It's A Love Story
by superxprettyxkitty
Summary: When 16-year-old Remus Lupin finds himself expecting during his sixth year at Hogwarts, his entire world is turned upside down. His parents don't know he's gay, his friends don't know he's in love and nobody seems to understand him par one raven-haired beauty. Despite all the rumours of Remus being unstable, Sirius finds a way to make him feel special among the peculiar happenings.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone and welcome to another new story.

M/M warning and Mpreg warning. Remus x Sirius.

Don't like? Don't read and abuse me for it, okay?

My New Years New Story things, my gift to you guys.

Best of luck for 2014, have a wonderful year.

Reviews? They inspire me.

Thanks in advance to my readers I hope you enjoy my story!

SXPXK

_Remus Lupin was sixteen years old in his sixth year at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was a normal teenage boy, for the most part. No I'm only joking, he was not only a Werewolf but about to find out a secret so Earth-shattering it would change his life forever..._

It was the eleveth of November 1976 and Remus Lupin was in the first term of his sixth year back at school. This year was the year things would be much different. This year was the one that changed everything.

As he walked along one of the upper corridors of the castle, Remus was wringing his hands with nerves. His friends wouldn't be quite out of bed yet so this was the perfect time to go and get seen to. Perhaps it would be nothing serious, perhaps he would really be okay, perhaps it was all something to do with the mild issue he had with anxiety... or perhaps it wasn't. Over the years, Remus had grown to expect the worse from life and particularly from other people, he was bitter before his time but he had good reason to be. All of his life he had been shunted from one home to the other by his parents thanks to his condition until they had finally settled in the middle of nowhere close to a Muggle village. It had been hard but Remus had accepted not having any friends as a child and being allowed to go to school all thanks to that wonderful old man, Albus Dumbledore. He had met his friends at school four glorious friends each one different to the last but nevertheless, perfect. Remus smiled to himself just thinking about them. They told each other everything, everything but what Remus was doing right now...

When he reached the hospital wing he hesitated a moment before opening the door. His stomach was churning somewhat with anxiety mixed with whatever it was that was making him run to the bathroom every single morning to vomit.

Pausing for a moment and taking a long soothing breath, Remus stepped through the archway into the medical room...

...

Madame Pomfrey looked up from where she was straightening the fresh bed clothes and smiled in greeting. He was quite close to the nurse, somewhat, after she had treated him for many full moon adventures, less so in the past year or so thanks to his friends joining him but that didn't matter now, he still went to her for treatment and such and she was always kind and understanding towards him. None of this was his fault.

"Good morning, Remus, it's surprising to see you here so early on a Monday" she said checking the time quickly on her watch. "Especially with the full moon having only been about three days ago" she frowned slightly. "Is everything alright?"

Remus swallowed and nodded slowly. "I just haven't been feeling very well recently and was wondering if it was perhaps something to do with my transformations?" he asked almost hopefully.

"Well have a seat" she said patting the bed she had just made. "And I'll have a look at see what I can do for you" she smiled gently.

Remus glided over and hopped up on the bed swallowing hard fighting back the urge to vomit.

"Now, what seems to be the trouble?" she asked curiously setting herself down on the bed opposite him which was actually pushed pretty close. Remus liked the way she made everything seem so light and friendly, he was sure she wasn't like this with every student but with him in particular partly because she felt sorry for the poor boy and his condition.

"Well" he began nervously. "For about two months now I've been feeling really tired, moody, sick, I've been vomiting pretty much every morning, I've been getting headaches, I keep needing to urinate and sometimes have to get up a few times in the night for it as well, my skin is really sensitive, my lower back aches occasionally and my chest has... gone funny..." he blushed madly and covered his face with his hands feeling more embarrassed than he should ever need to.

"Okay" she nodded slowly with understanding. "Have you been under a lot of stress recently?"

"Not really" he said shaking his head.

"Alright, have you been eating anything different lately? Any new foods or drinks?"

Remus shook his head once again. "No, I haven't" he said.

She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. "Is there anything else that may have happened that was out of the ordinary that you feel like you should tell me?" she asked with a tiny crease appearing between her eyebrows.

Remus stared at her for a moment before swallowing and furrowing his own eyebrows thoughtfully. Was there anything that he had done recently, like, within the past two or three months that would possibly be classed as unusual?

Time seemed to be tick, tick, ticking away but really it hadn't been long before Remus' eyes widened. Oh, shit, that...

A blush spread across his face and he squeezed his eyes shut feeling hot and embarrassing. "There is... something..." he said slowly. "But I don't think I can tell you about it because it's personal and really, really embarrassing..."

"Remus you have full confidentiality, I would not and could not tell another person about your personal issues, this is your time and you can talk to me about anything you feel you need to" she spoke very gently making Remus feel somewhat more relaxed.

He hesitated a moment opening his eyes and picking at his fingernails before he took a deep, soothing breath and said "Almost three months ago I-we- there was this party thing welcoming students back to school, I was there and we'd been drinking and things happened... long story short I took this potion which... opened this place up behind my..." he gestured wildly to his crotch. "Long story short, I had intercourse with another guy there, could that be something to do with the cause?" he asked nervously feeling his cheeks beating with blood from the shame of what he had just told the nurse.

The nurse sat looking thoughtful for a moment. "By any chance is that entrance still there?" she asked curiously.

Remus hesitated a moment before slipping a hand between his legs and pressing there. "Yes, it is" he said his eyes widening in horror. It was only supposed to last a few days! He opened and closed his mouth several times as the shock-horror sank in. What was he to do?

"Okay, let's not get too upset right now" she said gently. "I think I know what might be wrong with you and it is a very rare occurance that can happen when two men have intercourse that way, but it does happen sometimes" she went on spelling her hands clean and drawing a curtain around the bed with a swift flick of her wrist.

Remus started to panic. "What's wrong with me?" he asked worriedly as she pushed him back gently against the propped pillows.

"Nothing lethal" she smiled gently. "I'll be back in a few moments" she said before disappearing behind the curtain leaving Remus to listen to the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Minutes seemed to tick by as years until finally the nurse came back wheeling something on a trolley into the little medical area. Remus stared at it in absolute confusion as she pushed it closer to the bed and then gestured for him to lay back once again.

"Is this thing going to hurt me?" he asked worriedly.

"No of course not" the nurse chuckled. "Could you expose your navel for me, please?"

Remus swallowed and nodded thinking it best not to argue as he pulled up his jumper, opened his school shirt and his trousers enough for his whole stomach to be on display for her. He watched her clean her hands again and snap on some fresh latex gloves opening the cap to something which he then found to be a clear sort of gel as she squeezed it onto his tummy - his slightly bloated tummy - and replaced the cap.

"Okay, let's take a little look then" she said lightly as she tapped her wand to the top of the strange device three times and lifted what appeared to be a scanner from the side of it. "Are you ready?" she asked holding it just above Remus' tummy.

Remus swallowed and nodded anxiously. "I'm ready to find out whatever's wrong with me" he breathed.

And so, she pressed the scanner down gently moving it around her eyes fixated on the monitor screen.

Remus was busy staring at the strange scanner device moving around on his stomach.

"Remus?" she spoke softly almost making him jump. He looked up confusedly into her face. She smiled gently and nodded towards the monitor screen.

Remus looked up at it frowning in confusion but what he saw made the bottom drop out of his stomach.

"Congratulations, Remus" she smiled warmly. "You're going to have a baby"

Remus gasped his eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as he stared at the moving, flickering image on the screen of a real little baby. He watched, tears welling in his eyes as the little baby kicked its legs softly inside of him. "T-that is really m-my baby?" he whispered in absolute disbelief.

"It most certainly is, you're eleven weeks along too" she smiled gently. "That's one week shy of three months, congratulations"

Remus just stared, he couldn't believe this. He was pregnant, he was carrying a real little baby inside of him.

"Which means you must have conceived on the first of September?" she asked gently.

Remus swallowed and nodded slowly. "Yes, that sounds about right..." he said struggling to contain the look of utter devastation on his face. Try as he might, he could not break his gaze from the screen where the tiny helpless lifeform sat. "Yes, definitely right..." he breathed.

The nurse nodded once with understanding and sighed very softly. "You will be pleased to learn that everything looks perfectly normal in here, no muttations, no problems or anything I should be concerned about, no signs of miscarriage..." she went on twisting the scanner a little and reaching over to give her wand a sharp _tap_ against the top of the machine. A peculiar whirring sound filled the air making Remus furrow his blonde eyebrows confusedly.

"What is that sound?" he asked softly.

The nurse's lips twitched into a tiny smirk and she glanced to him out of the corner of her eyes. "That, Remus, is your baby's heart beating"

Remus' sharp intake of breath was enough to let her know just how shocked the boy was actually feeling right then. He continued to stare at the machine in utter disbelief. How could this have happened? How could this truly be real? Was this the work of some strange magical force?

"I have to assure you, Mr Lupin, that what you're experiencing is uncommon to say the least but it is also perfectly harmless and when using a potion of that calibre this should be expected, for it has happened in the past" she explained slowly.

Remus swallowed and looked to her. "So it's as simple as that? I conceived through another man's sperm?"

"Yes"

"How will I manage with this? What will happen when I transform?" he asked worriedly, his voice taking on the slightest tone of hysteria.

"Your transformations will continue as usual, you will be able to continue through this pregnacy in just the same manner a woman could and by the end of your nine months, you will give birth to your child" she replied. "Except that you are male, your pregnacy will be just the same as a woman's, there is but nothing to fear"

Remus swallowed the hard lump that appeared in his throat. "Will it- will it be like me?" his voice came out barely above a whisper.

"No" her voice was gentle and rather soothing. "Lycanthropy is not a gene that is passed on through human mating, it is, however, passed on through two Werewolves mating on the full moon" she explained. "But mating as two humans, your child will be human as Lycanthropy is an infection rather than a gene"

Remus exhaled slowly and closed his eyes in a long slow blink.

"If I might make a suggestion" the nurse said again. "It would be wise to tell your partner sooner rather than later so you can make arrangements. I understand you won't be able to work whilst pregnant as nowhere will hire someone so close to having a baby but your partner will be able to and the thought of that should take some of the stress from you"

"It would if we were together" said Remus. The nurse opened her mouth to say something else but Remus cut across in front of her again. "It's not really something I wish to talk about right now either... I don't mean to sound rude though"

"You don't, it is a personal matter" she said quietly moving the scanner around again. "I must ask you if you plan to go through with this pregnancy? It is entirely your decision whether or not you want to and it is very personal so nobody has the right to influence you on it"

Remus looked into her eyes, his own widening and his lips parting with shock. "Of course I plan to keep it, knowing it is not a Werewolf settles me, it's just the rest that I am afraid of, I'm afraid of what will happen to me and my life over this"

"Even parents who are married and planned their babies will feel much the same as you do right now"

Remus exhaled slowly again and watched her remove the scanner, the image of the baby disappearing from the screen. She handed him a tissue in which he cleaned himself up with as she tapped her wand to the machine again. Remus replaced his clothes.

"I'm going to ask you to come back in this time next week for your three month scan, same as today and there is nothing to worry about at all. Are you still having trouble with morning sickness?"

"Not so much" said Remus.

"Very well, if you wish me to write a slip to take to Professor Slughorn so he can brew a potion that will combat this for you then by all means just ask" she said with a warm smile.

Remus swallowed and shook his head. "I'll be fine" in truth, he knew he would still be a bit sick but at the same time he didn't feel comfortable telling his Potions teacher about this matter just yet, he wasn't even sure he felt comfortable with his own self knowing about the baby growing inside of him.

"Very well, if you'll wait one moment I will get you a book on pregnancy" she said before disappearing through the curtain.

Remus swung his legs over the edge of the bed and exhaled slowly closing his eyes for a brief moment or two trying to regain some composure. The sheer mass of thoughts swirling around in his mind was like a hurricane, a tornado of emotions ready to destroy everything in its wake. He had no idea what he was going to do now, what he would tell his parents, what he would say to his friends and Sirius... oh Sirius... The poor boy had absolutely no idea any of this was going on, well, he'd seen Remus feeling unwell and even vomiting for the past few weeks now and he had attempted to question it but Remus shrugged it off as flu not actually knowing himself what was causing the problem.

The nurse came back placing a book still covered in its wrappers in his hands. He took it gratefully his fingers tracing the silver text on the front; _A Magical Nine Months of Male Pregnancy. _

"How fortunate you are that I have this, we do keep a range of pregnancy and sex education books in the library intended for private use but I keep some new copies here for if there should ever be a case of pregnacy during the student body. I believe apart from yourself there has only been one other pregnancy at school, it was, oh a good sixteen or seventeen years ago now" she replied.

Remus swallowed and nodded slowly with understanding. "Thank you for all of your help, I appreciate it a lot" he said quietly.

"My pleasure, young man. If you ever need anything or need to someone to confide in I am here to help. In the mean time, if you notice any unusual bleeding, pains or anything at all you feel concerned about then come and see me immediately, day or night" she nodded with a smile reaching into the tray below the machine and pulling a little piece of paper out and handing it over to the boy. Remus took it his breath catching in his throat and his eyes widening with surprise.

Baby scan photographs.

Remus shot her another weak smile before he turned on his heels clutching his book to his chest hugging it defensively as though it would help him overcome his troubles or something.

...

It was still rather empty out when his footsteps echoed quietly down the corridors, people were up and about but it wasn't quite as busy as it would be in around half an hour and for once, Remus was exceptionally glad that he had chosen an early enough time to make it to the nurse and back, hopefully before his friends realised he had left without trace and chose to interrogate him upon his return.

He made his way almost mindlessly up the endless flights of stone stairs, the heavy creaking of them moving and scraping against one another did not even break his train of thought as he uttered the password and swept into the Gryffindor common room.

The fire was still crackling and burning and one or two early rising students sat about giggling or trying to cram in the last few precious moments in which to finish their homework before lessons but this morning, Remus wasn't going to pay them any attention even when one of the boys from fifth year waved to him - a newly appointed Prefect that had gotten very confused and McGonagall had asked Remus to help him out with pretty much everything- until Remus got sick of course, the boy was rather annoying so he didn't feel too awful about not going to pretty much all of his meetings since the start of term.

Remus made his way quickly up into the boys dormitory, he creaked the handle open and sidled inside hoping that nobody was-

"Remus?" Sirius asked sleepily as he tugged on his black, pressed school trousers.

_Don't look, don't look at him, don't look at his underwear..._ Remus thought desperately to himself as he headed over to his bedside table placing the book in the drawer and turning swiftly into the bathroom shutting the door abruptly behind him.

James and Sirius exchanged confused looks. "Perhaps he didn't hear you, Padfoot" the bespectacled boy replied quietly. "He has been rather off recently"

"I hope he isn't still sick" Sirius nodded once.

"Maybe he went for an early breakfast" Peter yawned tugging his shirt on inside out before James chuckled and pointed to him with a grin plastered all over his handsome face. Peter wrinkled his nose with distaste and wrestled it on the right way round this time.

"Or he more than likely went to the library seeing as he brought a book back with him" Sirius pointed out nodding to Remus' bedside table.

Inside the bathroom, Remus could hear every word they were saying. He had expected it after all as he stood with his hands on either side of the sink basin, his head bowed and his blue eyes shut tightly. He felt sick, he felt tired and he felt incredibly grumpy as though one minor comment may send him over the edge. He didn't want to snap at any of his friends or fight with people but now he understood why he felt that way he supposed there really was very little in the way for him to blame himself with it for, after all, he was pregnant now. At the mere thought of it, Remus felt an intense wave of nausea hit him. He was pregnant, expecting a real life baby that would be here in little over six months and with a man who was neither his boyfriend nor his husband, just a friend. Remus swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat, what would his parents say? Would they accept him over this? They knew he wasn't exactly... into girls all that much as he had never mentioned or paid any real interest whenever his father asked if there was a 'special young lady' in the picture or 'any friends of the female persuasion' around. Remus had always said no and completely ignored the rest of it, in the end, his father had stopped asking him about it and resided in sitting shooting Remus gentle smiles and keeping his thoughts to himself.

Maybe that was it! The thought had struck Remus like a sudden bolt of lighting. Maybe he could get through this step by step. If he could tell his parents that he was gay first of all then the pregnancy may not be quite such a horrific shock. They would probably be stunned, disappointed, his father would be somewhat angry with Sirius for being the one who did it to him and his mother would probably cry and the whole Werewolf problem would be brought back up again.

Remus sighed to himself taking several deep soothing breaths willing the urge to vomit to back off completely, he knew it was his anxiety making it much worse. Turning the creaky taps, he splashed some water on his face and dried it on his fluffy white towel looking at his own reflection in the pristine mirror. He looked tired, he looked pale and he looked sickly but at the same time he looked... different. "It must be the hormones" he muttered to himself trying to comb his hair into a neater position that would actually make him look a bit better. Hopefully.

...

When Remus finally came out of the bathroom the others were there to greet him with smiles.

"Where did you sneak off to this morning, Moons?" Sirius asked casually as Remus wrapped his scarf around his neck and yawned sleepily.

"Just a little walk to the... library" the boy lied averting his eyes. He never could tell a good lie and judging by the suspicious look on both James and Sirius' faces he knew they didn't believe him then. Peter on the other hand was much, much easier to fool than they would ever be.

"Oh, well I assume you're coming to breakfast with us, right?" James asked raising both eyebrows curiously, his glasses slipping down his pointed nose a fraction.

"Yeah, I think I can manage" Remus' face flickered into a tiny smile and back.

"Good, it's been weird with you not around so much and all" Sirius said tilting his head towards the Werewolf a fraction, his dark hair swinging in front of his face a little. Remus felt his knees quiver. Why did Sirius have to be so gorgeous?

The boy managed another little smile and a nod before lowering his gaze and following his friends from the room. He didn't feel up to this today, he felt numb, empty, confused, he just didn't know what to say, do or even think right now everything was such a complete and utter mess in his life. Getting pregnant at sixteen was most certainly not on his life's agenda but it happened anyway, isn't that funny? He'd never planned to become a Werewolf aged fucking four but that happened. Why did life have to be so odd at times. It wasn't even that he was angry, as he walked down those same stone stairs for the second time already in an hour, he couldn't feel angry about this, he only had himself to blame for not doing some more extensive research on that flaming potion. A small part of him blamed Sirius for it too but then again they were both intoxicated and they were both out of their minds, if he had been sober none of this would have happened. It was also the first time he'd ever gotten drunk as well which only made it worse.

_If one thing's for sure, _Remus thought to himself as he strolled into the Great Hall amongst his friends. _I am never drinking alcohol ever again. _

...

The Great Hall was quickly filling with students and teachers alike, easily chatting and dropping into the rows upon rows of house benches worn with the years of use but still grand and beautiful. Remus lowered down into his own chair, the strong scent of the food was making his stomach churn a little. He'd already been sick this morning before he went to the hospital wing and was hoping that he'd already gotten it all up by now.

Carefully, Remus nibbled on a slice of toast hoping it would remain down like it occasionally did in the mornings. He sat there listening to his friends chatting and laughing as normal just as though nothing had happened. Well, in their lives nothing was going on, all of them were oblivious and... free...

Remus swallowed the painful emotional lump that welled in his throat. Suddenly everything seemed to be rushing towards him too quickly, he felt like he couldn't breathe, like all of the voices in the room were being drowned out by the flow of water surrounding him. Remus felt somewhat panicked, all the emotions he should have been feeling earlier on were hitting him like a thousand hexes at once, like a ten ton Hippogriff. It was just too much.

"Is everything okay, Moony?" James asked his eyebrows setting into a frown as he raked his fingers through that obscenely messy black hair.

Remus glanced to him breathing steadily, his eyes slightly out of focus for now. "Yeah" he croaked forcing himself to keep chewing on the toast. He was going to calm down, he wasn't going to come off all weird and broody, he wasn't going to make a show of himself, not here and certainly not now in front of all of these spectators. "I'm fine, just... feeling a little sick again..." it wasn't the answer he really wanted to give but it would do for now. Better they thought him nauseated than a mentalist or even that he was pregnant. Shit. What was he going to say to them?

He glanced around the table into their faces trying to keep his own as straight and calm as possible, he was not going to cry just now. Later perhaps, but not just now in front of everyone and with the Slytherin's watching that meant they would only take immense pleasure from his pain.

"Maybe you should go to the nurse" Sirius said and Remus could hear the concern in his voice.

"No, I'm fine, I-uh, I've already been..." Remus muttered stuffing his last bit of toast in his mouth and washing it down with a gulp of his cooling tea.

The other's exchanged surprised looks.

"Did she find out what's wrong with you?" Sirius asked quickly.

Remus shrugged a little. "Yeah" he was trying to make it obvious he didn't want to talk about the subject without being rude or hurting anyone's feelings. Telling his friends whilst sitting casually over breakfast in the Great Hall was NOT what he planned to do, it wasn't the right time or place to tell his friends that he's having a baby. With Sirius. He looked into Sirius' worried grey eyes and felt a pang in his chest. This wasn't just going to change Remus' life dramatically, it was going to change Sirius' too, he wouldn't have the chances he deserved but at the same time he deserved to know about the little one he'd helped create and he had a right to know about it even if they weren't together.

"And...?" Sirius pressed making a gesture with his hands to try and coax Remus on.

Remus pursed his lips for a moment. "It's nothing fatal" he said quietly. "Nothing serious, I'll recover shortly on my own" he added a tiny hint of a smile right on the end there.

Sirius shot him a suspicious look and James' eyes narrowed but once again, Peter seemed to entirely believe the tall tale of Remus' health (as per usual) "Okay" Sirius spoke slowly nodding his head. "We're here if you ever need to talk about anything, you know that, right?"

Remus nodded slowly averting his eyes down to the table.

A few minutes later and they were on their feet heading out of the Great Hall. Remus inhaled slowly through his nose and back out of his mouth trying to steady himself. He was far from calm. He just felt as though the weight of the world rested entirely on his own shoulders, everything he had begun to feel at breakfast was being amplified and the urge to scream, cry and throw up was unbelievable. They made their way into the entrance hall, everything even looked different to Remus now, he was shaking as his eyes roamed the elegant castle surroundings. Why did this have to happen to him? Wasn't it punishment enough that he had to become a Werewolf, be shunned for the rest of his life, treated like nothing more than the filth on the ground, the excrement of other beasts? But no, he had to not only be a boy but be pregnant at sixteen too without so much as a boyfriend let alone a husband. True, it didn't matter if a baby were to be born out of wedlock but to Remus it did matter that he was so alone, frightened and terrified of what he was going to do now.

"Eh, Remus?" James' voice broke through his train of thought, Remus could feel himself swirling out of it.

"What?" he blinked slowly.

James and Sirius stared back over their shoulders at the boy in deep concern. "We were talking about the Christmas ball" said James. "Are you staying here to dance at it?"

Remus blinked slowly, this was the last thing he wanted to think about right now but unfortunately he had to pretend he was a perfectly normal boy going through a perfectly normal days events. "Oh, yeah" he muttered.

James and Sirius continued walking on leading Remus down into the dungeons. They continued to glance back over their shoulders and James leaned over to whisper something to Sirius keeping his hazel eyes trained on the blonde boy as he did so. Remus didn't really care though, they could talk all they wanted, they would still be his friends afterall. He had too much on his plate right now, that savage burning of emotions was mounting higher and higher as though the walls were closing in on him covered in jagged spikes.

They finally stopped outside of the Potions classroom to hang about waiting along with the rest of the chattering students which unfortunately included the Slytherin's. Look at them all standing in a huddle together smirking, talking, cracking their knuckles and generally being intimidating to other students... Thought they owned the world, they did.

Remus could hear James briefly saying something to Sirius and they both laughed, Peter was there too as he could see him out of the corner of his eye bobbing up and down like a puppy desperately searching for its owners attention. None of it mattered though right now, those walls were drawing in forever closer. Remus was pregnant now. His fingers lightly grazed over the pocket where the scan photo remained, maybe it had all been a dream, maybe he had dreamt he'd gone to the nurse this morning and been told he was expecting. Those slender fingers slipped inside the deep pocket, if the photo wasn't in there this was all a sick joke in his mind, this was all just a myth, none of this had realy happened. Remus swallowed and closed his eyes as he slipped his fingers deeper into the pocket, moments later and they brushed over something inside it, a smooth piece of paper.

Remus felt his whole world spin, the nausea washed over him as he staggered around turning to face James and Sirius.

"Remus?" a voice echoed through his head but it was too late, he was falling.

Everything turned black.

...

_Sirius head turned sharp when he spotted Remus, pale and sickly-looking, turning in a circle. He appeared to be staggering, his knees buckling as a small gasp escaped his lips. Moments later and he began to fall. _

_The taller Gryffindor gasped, his arms shot out immediately wrapping around Remus to break his fall against the hard stone flooring of the castle. Sirius went down on his knees supporting Remus as he lay unconcious in his arms..._

_..._

"Moony!" James gasped.

"What happened?" one of the Gryffindor girls from their class- Marlene McKinnon- asked quickly.

"Did he just faint?!" it was Lily Evans.

"Remus, can you hear me?" Sirius asked fighting off the urge to give the boy a little shake as he gazed down into the boy's face. Behind him he could hear the crowd of Slytherin's snickering and roaring with laughter.

"What a little pussy" Avery grinned nastily.

"You be quiet!" James spat back.

"Moony?" Sirius called softly again watching as the boy's blue eyes fluttered open, his expression was dazed and his eyes hazy but otherwise, he seemed completely unharmed.

A small, peculiar breathy noise escaped Remus' throat and he gazed up into Sirius' ridiculously handsome face. He could feel all of his senses flooding back to him before he realised he was laying in Sirius' arms, dazed, confused and with more than a fair share of students gawking at him.

"Moony, are you okay?" Sirius asked his voice growing a little more frantic.

From this angle, Remus could see every little detail of the boy's face, his slender nose, his full lips, his beautiful silver eyes... Remus found himself very quickly turning red. "Yeah" he whispered, suddenly making the realisation he looked like a complete idiot.

Sirius' smile lit up the room as he helped Remus back up onto his feet, James was there too steadying his other arm.

"I think perhaps we should take you to see the nurse" James said and Sirius nodded quickly with his agreement.

"No!" Remus jumped. "I'm fine, just a little dizzy is all"

"I think maybe you'd ought to go and sit down" James said completely ignoring the Slytherins whom were standing behind him pretending to faint and catching one another overly dramatically.

Remus flushed awkwardly again straightening out his clothes. "No, I'm quite alright" he replied turning away from them. He had to get out of here and now. "I may go and have a lie down though..." he said stumbling towards the dungeon steps again.

"We'll see you up there then" said James.

"No!" Remus said quickly whirling around again fighting off the dizzy urge. You didn't have to be a woman to know that being dizzy in pregnancy was normal, he'd heard his mother talking about it once before when he was small. Strange, the pieces of information you picked up as a child were, even if you couldn't fully understand them yet.

James, Sirius and Peter stared at him unblinkingly.

"I will see myself upstairs" Remus nodded and made to leave once again.

Sirius sighed. "I'll follow you up and James will tell Slughorn where you are, he might worry you've gotten lost or something" he smirked to the Werewolf whom began walking faster away from the hoots and giggling girls. Mocking him, they all were, how could this possibly be fair?

Remus didn't say anything as he made his way gradually through the entrance hall and onto the grand staircases, he simply allowed Sirius to follow beside him looking anxious and very concerned.

The rest of the journey was quiet even as Remus uttered the password and made his way up into the Gryffindor dormitory, he still felt dizzy and sick and horrible but there was little he could do about that now apart from have something to drink and go to sleep and try to process this entire sector of new information the nurse had given him. Perhaps some time alone to read his new book would be greatly beneficial.

"Moony-" Sirius was cut off by Remus slipping into the bathroom. With a sigh, he went over and sat down on the edge of his own bed waiting patiently with his hands clasped together for Remus to return. This had been going on for weeks now, not the fainting, but Remus' illness. The throwing up every morning, the tiredness, the mood swings, his grumpy attitude to things he previously enjoyed, he was so quiet some days and so weird others. People were beginning to notice and they thought that perhaps he might have something wrong with him. Not physically but mentally. Sirius pursed his lips at the mere thought of it, no, it couldn't be. Level-headed Remus Lupin, always so calm and secure was changing and nobody knew why. Well, except for maybe Remus himself...

Sirius' thought were disrupted by Remus coming out of the bathroom, he had shrugged out of his uniform and hurried to slip into bed in just his boxer shorts. He watched as Remus settled himself down under the covers before he got up and went over to kneel down beside the boy tucked up in bed. "Hey" he spoke gently.

"Hi" Remus breathed.

"Moony, I know something is going on with you and I get it if you don't want to talk about it, it's just... well..." Sirius began awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "I'm worried about you, okay? I don't like seeing you this way and I wish you would open up to me and just talk, you know you can trust me"

Remus swallowed and gazed nervously into Sirius' handsome face. This was him, the man he had managed to create another life with sitting right before him pleading for him to tell him what was wrong. Remus sighed softly and parted his lips challenging himself to think of something intelligent to say. "It's a secret" he whispered softly. _Damn it!_

Sirius' dark eyebrows furrowed. "What's a secret?" he blinked confusedly. Sometimes Remus could be just so difficult, and then sometimes Remus could be so... odd.

Remus pursed his lips still staring into Sirius' eyes, then suddenly he blushed and averted them shyly. "I don't think I can tell you just now" he admitted quietly. "It's not that I don't trust you it's just that... well..."

Sirius cocked his head to one side rather like a lost puppy. "Well what, Remus"

Remus remained quiet for a few moments before he sighed very softly. "I have a lot of inner conflict over this matter as to whether it would be wise to tell you just now or wait until later on but you do deserve to know but at the same time I need to be sure it is the right time to even bring this subject up"

Sirius frowned confusedly and shook his head. "What?"

After a short while, Remus sighed softly and shook his head. "I don't think it would be okay to tell you right now" he muttered almost sadly. "I think I should wait, I think- I don't know what I think" he continued on.

"Remus, are you sure you don't need the nurse?" Sirius asked gently. "I can run and fetch her to you if need be or we can head off down to see her together and we don't even have to tell anyone we've been"

Remus frowned at his friend. "Why would I need the nurse?"

"You're rambling and it's a little... unsettling for me to see" Sirius spoke honestly.

"You think I'm mad, don't you?" Remus' eyes faded slightly.

"No, not mad, just... confused, yes, that's it, confused" Sirius nodded quickly hoping that Remus wouldn't take any offense. He didn't mean to upset or hurt the boy, he was just worried about his health and mental state at the moment.

Remus gave him the sorriest of looks. "I'm really not mad or unstable, Sirius" he said quietly. "If you knew what was wrong then you would understand, if it were you in this condition then you would know what it's like too... Merlin! Would you know..."

Sirius swallowed and continued to search Remus' pale face for some answers. "Then tell me, Remus, tell me what's wrong with you and perhaps I may be able to help after all"

Remus gazed into those stunning eyes, his own face softening and he sighed. "Sirius..." he whispered, his heart hammering in his chest. He pursed his lips and remained silent after that.

Sirius swallowed nervously. "Moony, whatever it is you've done or is wrong we will always stand by you as your friends and as your brothers, you know that, right?" he pressed a little hoping to coax Remus out of his shell. "But right now it is just you and me and if you want to keep it just between us then that's absolutely fine too" he smiled a little. "I only want to help, I won't judge or get mad or anything else you think I might do"

Remus shot him a tiny smile, his eyes sparkling just a little with hope. Trust Sirius to make things better. "Well... Sirius... it's not just me it affects" he explained slowly.

"Remus, whatever it is just come straight out and tell me, I can take it, Moons" he smiled reassuringly reaching out to lay his hand over Remus' on the side of the Werewolf's plush bed.

Remus chewed anxiously on his bottom lip and Sirius had to fight the urge to relieve it from its place between those sharp white teeth.

It was some time before Remus spoke again looking a fraction paler than he did earlier on though. "Sirius, I-we- I'm... I-I'm going to-" Remus' eyes widened dramatically, his stomach gave a violent lurch and he clapped a hand over his mouth thrusting back his warm covers and leaping from the bed running into the bathroom and throwing himself at the toilet basin.

Sirius groaned putting his head in his hands. Remus was just about to tell him what was wrong as well and this goes and happens?! He sighed to himself getting up off of the floor and followed Remus into the bathroom, a worried and thoroughly sympathetic look on his face. When he turned into the private bathroom, his heart sank a little watching Remus dry heaving into the toilet basin. He paused to watch the boy for a few moments until he sank down on his knees with a sigh putting his head in his hands.

"Hey" Sirius said gently moving over to rest his hand on Remus' upper back rubbing it soothingly. "It's okay, Moony"

Remus swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat feeling his cheeks growing warm as he sat there in just his underwear. Oh sure, Sirius had seen him this way before but things were different now. They'd fallen into bed together, not technically losing virginities and besides, Remus now had a little more to cover with the fact he had gained a little weight around his middle and his nipples were swollen, pink and much larger than they were before. It didn't help that he still had a lot of feelings for Sirius and he was self-conscious about his own body. "I just feel so, so sick right now..."

Sirius leaned over Remus and looked into the toilet basin, he hadn't expelled any of his breakfast which had to be a good sign. "Okay, well, you haven't actually been sick so that's good" he said slowly. "Come on, back to bed with you" he smiled slowly lifting a reluctant Remus to his feet. When Remus stood, his arms flew up to cover his chest, his middle was just dandy seeing as he didn't have a proper baby bump just a little extra weight that would probably not even be noticed yet. Sirius did, however, quirk an eyebrow at Remus' strange behaviour.

"Something wrong, Moons?"

Remus swallowed and shook his head slightly, about as much as he could manage without having himself hanging off of that darned toilet once more. Sirius seemed to take a hint and after shooting him a rather suspicious glance, he guided Remus back into the dormitory and watched him crawl into bed. Sirius pointed his wand to Remus' empty goblet and cast "Aguamenti" watching it fill with water.

"There" he sai quietly. "Shall I stay with you?"

"Until I fall asleep" Remus breathed settling himself down shakily and pulling the covers up high enough so Sirius didn't see his nudity. "Then you should really go back to your lesson, you hadn't ought to miss it for my sake"

"I don't mind staying here and keeping an eye on you" Sirius replied with a haughty grin. "Plus it keeps me out of lessons" he winked at the boy making him blush horribly.

"Sirius..."

"What?" Sirius chuckled waving his wand and summoning a washing up bowl for Remus to be sick or heave into if need be. "There you go, Remus" he said quietly petting the boy's hair. "Now you won't have to get up and run to the toilet whenever you feel the urge to be sick"

Remus smiled to him gently. "Thanks for helping me"

"Not at all" Sirius breathed gazing down at the boy before he sank down slowly on the edge of Remus' bed.

Remus seemed to grow a little nervous but he sighed softly and closed his eyes willing sleep to overcome him very soon.

"I won't press you to tell me what you were going to say earlier, we can talk about it another time when you're feeling better" Sirius spoke very softly resting his hand on Remus' ankle through his covers.

Remus opened his eyes and shot Sirius a bashful smile before he nodded and settled back down to sleep. It was somewhat unnerving having Sirius sitting there watching him go to sleep, especially when he knew that he was carrying Sirius' baby.

After some amount of time. Remus managed to drift off to sleep.

...

"I'm telling you, something is really wrong with him" Sirius commented as they sat in Transfiguration after the first break. They had all been up to check on Remus during said morning break, however the boy was sound asleep so they thought not to disturb him.

James looked pitifully to Peter and Sirius. "I've heard people saying he's a little bit mad, in the head, you know?"

Peter gave a rather large nod of agreement. "I know, they're all saying he's bonkers! Completely off his rocker!"

Anger welled inside Sirius. "Remus isn't mad!" he argued fighting the urge to slam a fist down on the table in anger.

James and Peter stared at him in shock.

"He's just... ill is all" Sirius said awkwardly shifting his feet about and averting their eyes. He truly believe what he had said though, he did not think Remus to be mad. "And not mentally, either!"

James sighed softly. "He's been acting really odd lately, Sirius, he doesn't seem normal and with everyone else talking and with what Lily said about him the other nigh-"

"Are you actually going to take the word of your friend, your _brother _over someone who barely knows him?!" Sirius asked abruptly straightening himself up in his seat. "Because if you are then you and I are going to have a serious falling out, Prongs..."

"No" James said quickly wavering his hands around trying to cool Sirius off. "I was merely going to say that she thinks he might benefit from speaking to someone, you know, a professional who can actually help him get through his problems. He's been weird for weeks now with the sickness, the mood swings, the unusual habits, the way he is"

"If he's not feeling well he's not going to be himself!" Sirius argued relentlessly. "Remus doesn't need help, what he really needs is for you to be there for him, for us all to be there for him and help him until he's better. He has already told me that the nurse says there's nothing wrong with him health-wise so he will get better on his own very shortly" he continued on. "I honestly don't know why I even bother with you sometimes, James"

"You need to chill the fuck out, Sirius" James said, exasperated. "What's got you so on edge about this?"

"I don't like seeing people treating him this way" Sirius said quietly his eyes falling to the hard wooden desk beneath his school books and the object they were supposed to be transfiguring today but he had bigger things on his mind. "Remus isn't like you or I, he is quiet and much more sensitive to things, he is wary of people and he has every right to be with his issues going on and the way he knows he will be treated if people knew what he was. He needs help, not to be criticised and abused by those who are supposed to care about him"

James swallowed, his hazel eyes falling to the table too. "I suppose you're right, Padfoot my friend"

"Oh, I know I'm right, James"

...

Remus rose from his slumber shortly after lunch time to find a plate of covered food and a note on his bedside table. With a yawn, he sat up slowly, gulped his water and lifted it to read;

_Moony, _

_Hope you're feeling better, came in over lunch and didn't want to wake you so we left you some lunch. Maybe see you in lessons this afternoon but if not we'll come get you before dinner if you're up to it. _

_- Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail. _

Remus smiled to himself and put the card back down lifting the plate up. He hadn't woken to vomit since and thought it best he actually tried to eat something, not for his sake but for the sake of the baby growing inside of him. As he tucked in, he had to wonder just how would they react when they found out about the baby. Oh and he had come close, very close to telling Sirius about it earlier on. That had made him think rather a lot more about this to be honest.

After he'd finished eating he put the plate back down on the table, had another drink and sat fidgeting for a moment. Now was the time, he had to read that book, he had to at least look through it and see what was going on with his body. His curiosity got the better of him and he slid the old drawer open and carefully lifted the book out pushing it shut once again. Opening the brand new text, he flipped through the index:

_Introduction to your pregnancy_

_What to expect_

_How conception takes place_

_Suitable and super foods and drinks_

_Things you should not do_

And the rest seemed to be a week-by-week guide to pregnancy to Remus went immediately to flipping through to week number eleven.

_Congratulations on reaching your eleventh week of pregnancy. Now you are only two weeks shy of your second trimester and will be having a proper pregnancy scan to check the health of the baby, for any possible birth defects/ complications and even to date it within the next week or so. _

_This week your baby measures three inches in length and weighs a good twenty grams. He or she can now not only make a fist but also suck his or her thumb too. Baby's eyelids are fused shut to protect the eyes as they continue to develop over the coming weeks. Other highlights this week include the skull and other bones solidifying and the ribs will begin to appear. Where are baby's intestines? Well, this week they are no longer dangling inside the umbilical cord but instead are now inside the baby's stomach where they belong. _

_Tooth sockets are already loaded ready for when they make their appearance several months after your son or daughter is born. The vocal cords and larynx are also completely finished this week too. _

Remus rested his book down on his lap looking up over the room and absolutely nothing in particular. This felt so real, his baby had teeth in their sockets, baby was developing and growing into a real little human. He closed it over slowly slipping it beneath his fluffed pillow. There would be time enough for reading some more later on when it wasn't dealing with the absolute shock of this whole thing. Carefully, Remus massaged his temples between his thumb and forefingers, he had to get this into his head, he had to sort himself out and come to terms with everything and quickly!

Slowly he sat back relaxing himself and opening his eyes, he dropped the covers lower and leaned back far enough to gaze at the little bump he had growing on his tummy. It didn't look fully like a baby bump yet and nobody would suspect it of being one when he was supposedly a young male, but still, it was there and it was evidence that he was no longer completely alone now. The real question was, what was he going to do?

It took quite some time for Remus to get up. He dressed swiftly in his uniform, drank some more water, checked himself in the bathroom and gathered his school books to make his way to the library. Lessons were still going but he was in no way up to going just yet and didn't feel like sitting in the dormitory would make his day productive. Even if he wasn't actively in classes he could still study.

It didn't take long to arrive and Madam Pince didn't even question it when he strolled past and slipped through the rows and rows of shelves to the back. It was warm, fairly dimly lit and very peaceful. He could work in this, he could push everything from his mind and just solidly work to prepare for his exams with interruption or without people gawking at him. It seemed that people knew he was ill and it only added to the questions he sometimes got from people. Luckily nobody other than Snape had suspected him of being a Lycanthrope and that ended pretty horrifically last year with James arriving only in the nick of time to save Snape's life.

Remus had been furious with Sirius over that, absolutely furious. The boy had pleaded, begged, cried and even hurt himself to get Remus to stop being mad with him about it, but Remus being Remus had forgiven him a little too easily. It had never been mentioned since.

He sank himself down, pulled out his work books and began to read through his text determined he was going to focus on something other than Sirius or pregnancy for once today.

...

The day passed faster than he would have liked but Remus did go down to join his friends for dinner.

"Hey, Moony, good to see you!" James said clapping the boy lightly on his back as he lowered himself down beside him.

Remus smiled nervously and kept his eyes trained on the food he was piling onto his plate. "Thank you all for bringing me lunch earlier, I really appreciate it"

"Don't worry about it" said Sirius. "Did you enjoy it?"

Remus nodded and smiled to the boy. "Yes thank you, I'm sorry I wasn't in lessons with all of you, I decided to go to the library this afternoon because I did feel rather sick at times" he explained. "But it's gone now" he said watching the looks of relief wash over their faces.

"Good, as long as you're okay now" James spoke very slowly and Remus shot him a funny glance.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he blinked.

"Because we worry about you, Remus" James said again keeping his expression passive. It didn't escape Remus' notice that Sirius was positively glaring at James, almost hatefully and his chest was rising and falling heavier as he was breathing. Sirius was... angry... about something.

"I don't know what you guys think is going on but I can assure all of you that I am just fine" Remus frowned slightly turning his attention back on his dinner. "There is nothing actually wrong with me I am just tired"

They seemed to pretty much leave it at that.

After dinner they all retired to the common room where Remus sat curled up against himself on the sofa resting his eyes. He was listening in on pretty much every word they were saying trying to keep his focus on something other than his own thoughts for once in his life.

"I tell you, if Snape looks at me like that again I just may not be able to stop myself from hexing the scrawny bastard" James said fingering his wand lazily.

"His presence annoys me" Sirius grunted.

"He makes me puke" Peter butted in. "The ugly, greasy git!"

James chuckled. "Nice one, Pete"

"Anyway guys, I think I'm off to bed now" Remus yawned getting up slowly from his comfy seat in front of the fire.

"But why, it's barely ten yet?" James blinked up at him confusedly, the glare from his glasses making his hazel eyes look mildly golden.

Remus gave a small shrug. "I told you I'm feeling tired and besides, I like being in bed early, it gives me more time to sleep" he said. "Goodnight to you all" he said nodding to them, his eyes lingering on beautiful Sirius for a moment too long.

Sirius caught on.

"I'm just going to go and get my book, walk with me, Moony?" Sirius said getting to his feet quickly and raising both eyebrows rather high.

Remus sighed softly, he just couldn't say no to Sirius. _And that's how you got into this mess in the first place_, he thought bitterly to himself. Nevertheless, the two of them headed up into the dormitory.

"Remus" Sirius began as soon as the door closed. Remus turned to look at him his heart rate picking up slightly with nerves, oh no, Sirius wanted to talk about earlier. It didn't take a moment longer for Remus to notice that Sirius was purposely standing in front of the door so there would be no escape. Into the bathroom would get him away but he couldn't remain in there forever.

"Sirius, please..."

"I'm not going to harass you, Moony" Sirius swallowed, his eyes roaming sadly over Remus' frame. "I just want to understand"

Remus looked sadly at Sirius for a moment before turning his face away chewing on his bottom lip. "I guess. I mean... I-I could talk to you, if you like..." he began slowly.

"Now?"

Remus shook his head. "This is extremely private, Sirius" he spoke in a heavily serious tone, his eyes shimmering with worry. "I will talk when everyone else goes to bed, in the common room, okay?"

Sirius's face washed with excitement and hope. "Really?" his voice was barely above a little whisper.

Remus nodded, almost reluctantly but he'd already said it now and it was too late to back down on it.

"Did you really come up here to go to bed?" the boy asked cocking his head to one side again. Oh how cute he was!

"No" Remus chuckled shyly. "I-I actually came up here just to be alone with my thoughts for a little while" he said slowly sinking himself down on the end of his bed.

"Okay, so, when they are asleep, meet me in the common room by the fire and we can have a chat then" Sirius smiled gently. "There's something I need to say to you too, Moony"

Remus smiled gently to Sirius holding his gaze for a minute or two before Sirius opened the door and slipped out of it disappearing back downstairs.

With a sigh, Remus put his head in his hands again. What in the name of sweet Merlin was he going to do?


	2. Chapter 2

It was a while, not too long but still a while, after James and Peter had gone to bed that Remus heard the floorboards creaking under someone's feet as sat on his bed manually sorting pairs of his socks like a Muggle. Having nothing better to do whilst he waited for the inevitable, Remus strained his heightened hearing listening as someone- it had to be Sirius- padding across the dormitory and slipping out of their door. Remus swallowed, his throat dry. Quickly he leaned over through the darkness and gulped down some of his water licking his lips to refresh himself. _Calm yourself, Remus, it's only a talk, he deserves to know. _Remus knew his behaviour was only natural and could anyone really expect anything more from him? He was sixteen years old, pregnant and in love. Yes that's right, Remus was in love although he was afraid to admit it to anyone but himself. Accetance was a huge part of life and even at Hogwarts people had varying views on things, love and homosexuality were two things people had ideas about but generally to the masses, both things were completely acceptable. After all, very few people wanted to have their ideas and views compared to that of Muggles, even half-blood's weren't keen, everyone wanted to just be and to merely fit in. Having a headmaster whom prefered the same gender was a bonus, if a great man like Dumbledore could fall in love with another man then so could anyone else and still be just as excellent.

With a sigh, Remus put down the socks and got up from his bed. It had only been a few minutes since Sirius left and he didn't want to keep the boy waiting too long, but at the same time he definitely didn't want to risk waking James or Peter and have them interrogate him and grow suspicious as to why he and Sirius were sneaking out at night without them.

He slipped from the dormitory wearing his ratty old grey jogging bottoms, his faded old black t-shirt, his chunky white socks and his hair a bit of a mess but he didn't really care, he wasn't in the mood to get all dressed up and sort himself out to sit in the common room with the boy he loved that obviously did not love him in return.

Remus made his way onto the landing, he could see Sirius sitting on the sofa gazing into the crackling fireplace below. He swallowed nervously and made his way down as quietly as possibly thinking it improper to make any noise. "Sirius?" he asked gently as he approached.

Sirius looked up and smiled sweetly to the boy. "Hi, Moony" he spoke quietly. "Have a seat" he gestured to the space on the old wornout sofa beside him, and Remus sat.

"Listen, Moons" Sirius began. "I really need to talk to you about something important" he said again looking up into Remus' face, a sorry expression written plainly across his own. "I have treated you poorly, I feel like I've been an absolute prick to you these past few weeks, Remus" he said again.

A slight look of confusion washed over Remus' face, he parted his lips to speak but Sirius shook his head.

"Shh, let me finish" he whispered shifting a little closer, his pink tongue darting out to moisten his lips. "Moony... I've taken you for granted and there's something I really need to tell you..."

Remus' eyes widened slightly and his breath caught in his throat. He stared curiously into Sirius' eyes, reading them as though they were a fascinating book. There was so much emotion swirling in the glistening silver it made Remus' heart flutter.

"Remus..." Sirius began slowly. "I love you"

Remus felt a wave of dizziness wash over him as his lips parted with shock, his eyes widened and he gasped softly. _Don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out. _He willed himself desperately.

Sirius' lips curled into a smile as he looked into Remus' eyes for a few moments.

A small sound escaped Remus' lips but he couldn't find the words to express himself.

Sirius' smile faded a little and his expression flickered with disappointment. "I understand if you don't feel the same way about me as I feel about you, but I still wanted you to know that I really care for you and not just since we... you know... I'm not that type of guy"

Happiness washed over Remus and he gasped softly. "Sirius..." he breathed shuffling in a little closer. "Sirius, I love you too" he breathed gazing into the boy's face in utter adoration. He watched as Sirius' face lit up into a beaming smile of joy, Sirius didn't hesitate for a moment as he reached out and pulled Remus right into his lap hugging him lovingly. Remus buried his face in Sirius' neck, he was stunned, truly stunned. He had never expected something so wonderful to come out of tonight, and there was him sitting there being told that Sirius loved him and he had on some old grubby- but wait. If Sirius still loved him despite that it only proved to Remus that he loved him more for what was inside rather than just his looks.

"I'm so happy" Sirius whispered.

"Me too" Remus breathed back. "So... does this mean...?" he asked pulling back to look curiously into Sirius' face.

Sirius looked into Remus' eyes and smiled warmly. "That we're together?" he asked and Remus blushed but nodded quickly. "Yes it does" he whispered softly. "If you want to be with me, Moons"

"Yes!" Remus blurted out, blushed and chuckled watching Sirius grinning madly.

"You're so cute when you're blushing" Sirius chuckled softly gently holding Remus there by his lower back. He laughed watching Remus' blush deepen, he hoisted the boy up so his legs were around Sirius' middle, stood to his feet and twirled them around making Remus rather rather madly.

"Sirius, put me down!" he grinned. "You might drop me!"

Sirius chuckled again. "I wouldn't dream of it, Remus" he said and stopped allowing Remus to put his feet down on the floor and snuffle in so he could rest his hands on Sirius' chest.

Remus glanced down still smiling, he knew he had to tell Sirius about the baby, this could not go on any longer without the poor boy knowing about it, he deserved to.

"Sirius... there's something really important I have to tell you..." he said quietly, his tone becoming a little more serious.

Sirius looked to him curiously and gently lifted his hands up. "And what might that be?"

"It was about what I was going to tell you earlier, you know, right before I threw up..." he said wincing a little with embarrassment. He always knew how to make an utter fool of himself.

Sirius looked intrigued. "Oh?"

Remus swallowed nervously. "And I don't want you to get upset or angry about it either..."

Sirius blinked. "Remus if you've slept with anyone or been with anyone since we were together that night I don't mind" he said slowly. "I just want to be honest with you"

Remus smiled a little. "I haven't been with anyone but you..." he flushed. "Have you...?"

"No" said Sirius. "I haven't touched anyone, not even a kiss since you" he smiled warmly.

Remus felt his heart give a flutter and he blushed again. "I'm happy, but that wasn't what I was going to talk to you about..." he began.

Sirius stared at him, still smiling.

Remus took several, deep, slow breaths to calm himself. "That night we spent together was amazing, but something came of it that neither of us could have possibly imagined" he began. Now Sirius looked worried.

"Is everything okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Remus shook his head quickly. "No, nothing like that" he said quickly. "But... but..."

"Remus, whatever is wrong please just tell me and I will help you" Sirius spoke softly again.

"Promise you won't be mad?"

"Why would I-"

"Just promise me, Sirius" he said quietly.

Sirius sighed softly. "Okay then, I promise I will not be mad, what has happened, Remus?"

Remus hesitated for another moment before he looked up into Sirius' eyes, pulled out his scan photo and said "Im pregnant, Sirius, we're going to have a baby"

Sirius' eyes widened and his lips parted, he looked utterly frozen to the spot.

Remus' eyebrows furrowed and he sank his teeth into his bottom lip trying his best to judge what kind of reaction Sirius would come out with when-

Sirius fainted.

"Sirius!" Remus gasped putting the photo back into his pocket and kneeling down beside the boy laying on his side unconscious on the common room floor. He looked wildly around to see if anyone else had come by and noticed their little drama, but there was nobody around at all. He leaned down closer gently stroking a hand over the boy's cheek, he was just so handsome...

Sirius' eyes fluttered open and he blinked up slowly into Remus' face. "Wow"

Remus smiled warmly. "You're okay, I thought for a moment there I would have to run for the nurse!"

Sirius chuckled and sat himself up slowly with Remus' help, he was soon on his feet and inhaling slowly. "Remus... did you really say what I think you said?"

Remus was quiet for a moment his fingers slipping back into his pocket to pull out the scan photo. "What did you think I said?"

"I thought you said that you're having a baby" Sirius whispered searching Remus' eyes worriedly.

Remus hesitated a moment and swallowed before he took a deep breath. "I am. And it's yours"

Sirius looked as though he may have fainted again so Remus stuck his arms out and caught the boy steading him. "H-how did this happen?"

"It's a rare side effect of that potion we used" Remus swallowed nervously. "It happens, I guess, just very uncommonly" he spoke slowly.

"Moony..." Sirius breathed gazing into Remus' face as the boy fidgeted with his photo in his hands.

"You promised you wouldn't be mad at me" Remus said in a slightly accusing tone of voice. Sirius smiled.

"I'm not mad at you, Moons" he said slowly as he draped his arms very gently around the boy and pulled him down onto the sofa to sit on Sirius' lap. Remus sank down between Sirius' legs as they entangled themselves around one another comfortably. "I'm just surprised is all"

Remus smiled to him happily and handed him the picture of their baby with a tiny smile playing on his face. Sirius took one look at it and gasped softly. "Oh, Moony... is this why you've been so sick for the past few weeks?"

The boy nodded slowly. "I-I just found out today about the baby, I didn't know what was wrong with me before" he said quietly resting his cheek on Sirius' chest. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Of course I'm not mad" Sirius smiled gazing at the can photo lovingly. "How far along are you?"

"Eleven weeks" Remus smiled.

"Eleven weeks..." Sirius repeated gazing at the tiny image of the baby moving and kicking its legs in the photograph. "Is it too early to know if it's a boy or a girl?"

Remus nodded quickly. "Yes, not for a few more weeks" he explained. "The baby is only three inches long and weighs twenty grams"

Sirius looked rather impressed. "Wow" he breathed softly turning to gaze at the picture again, his eyes flickered curiously to Remus' tummy. "Have you started to... get big yet?" he asked curiously.

Remus blushed a little. "I'm a bit fatter than I was, I had to use my bigger school trousers because I couldn't get my normal ones on last week" he admitted, embarrassed.

"May I see?" he asked gently running his fingers over the hem of Remus' t-shirt. The boy smiled again and nodded leaning back a little so Sirius could lift it up and see the little growing bump underneath. "Oh, Moony..." Sirius said again, his eyes gleaming with what appeared to be happiness when those beautiful silver eyes fell on his tummy.

Remus' blush deepened as Sirius gently stroked his fingers over it. "Do you actually want to be a father to our baby? I mean, I was debating on whether to tell you or not because I want you to have a life and be able to enjoy yourself and not be tied down"

Sirius smiled very warmly. "Remus, I don't know what ideas you have about me but I'm really not going to run off and leave you pregnant with my baby, I do really love you, Remus and I want you to know that and feel secure that you know I am not going to leave you for another man or for a woman either, I don't swing that way"

Remus grinned to him and wrapped his arms around Sirius tighter. "I'm sorry if I offended you, it's just that my hormones make me feel a bit anxious and scatty at times" he explained. "And... insecure"

Sirius smiled and brushed his lips over the top of Remus' head. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you" he said quietly his eyes still focused on the picture. Slowly, he slipped it back into Remus' pocket so he could drape both arms around the boy. "I don't know what I was expecting you to tell me tonight but it certainly wasn't this" he chuckled softly. "Wow... it's just... wow..." he breathed shaking his head slowly. "I cannot believe it"

Remus smiled and closed his eyes allowing Sirius' warm, masculine scent to fill his senses. "That's why I was so funny this morning, because I was tired and confused and I'd just found out and it was like a crushing pressure because I didn't know if I should or could tell anyone about the baby" he explained.

"Well, we can either keep it a secret for now or we can tell people, it's entirely up to you" Sirius replied. "But I do think it might be wise to let people get used to the idea that we're together rather than just jumping out there saying that we're together and having a baby"

"I agree" said Remus. "I think we should tell them in a little while, not just now though. I guess we should tell my parents and James and Peter first though, but what about your parents?" he asked curiously looking up into Sirius' handsome face.

Sirius was quiet for just a moment. It was only close to the end of the summer when his parents had disowned him after he'd run away and no doubt his name had been ceremoniously blasted from the family tree. Sirius didn't care for them though, they were low-lives, they were unworthy and they were ignorant. Ignorance was a big issue for Sirius, he hated the ignorant, loathed the stupid and respected the good regardless of what they were like in any other ways. Remus was the biggest example of the good and that was one of the many reasons why he loved the boy. "We don't say anything for a few months, they either find out on their own or not at all, I don't care for them much"

"And what about your brother, he's the real issue here because he's going to find out when other people do" Remus pointed out.

"An excellent point, Moony" Sirius muttered. Ah, yes, his little brother.

"You could still save him you know"

Sirius flinched a little. It wouldn't be long before Regulus joined the Death Eaters, that was plain and simple. Oh sure he kept on a brilliant front of the proper pure-blood boy at school, the innocent, the Quidditch player, the perfectly handsome young man whom respected all of his own kind and looked down upon those lesser than he was. The perfect little brat of the family, actually. "How am I to do that?"

Remus shrugged a little. "Talk to him, befriend him, help him and stop him from making a terrible mistake"

Sirius swallowed, he knew Remus was right, Regulus did need saving and he did need guidance from someone other than their unworthy excuses for parents. "You're right" he said quietly. "But I can't actually stand the little shit"

Remus rolled them both down more so he could turn over in Sirius' arms and gaze up properly into his face. "He's your little brother, regardless of all the trouble between you, you still love him and I know it" he smiled warmly. Sirius winced visibly and Remus started to laugh. "See, I'm right again, aren't I?"

"Yes" Sirius smirked a little. "You're always right"

Remus smiled reaching a hand up nervously to stroke the side of his new boyfriend's cheek, he yawned softly his mouth folding into the perfect little o.

"Sleepy?"

Remus nodded slowly still gazing into Sirius' face. Oh how lucky he was.

"Shall we go on up to bed then? it's gone eleven now" Sirius pointed out glancing up at the ancient clock ticking away on the wall.

Remus chuckled again and nodded getting himself up slowly with Sirius' help as he didn't want the boy to strain himself too much. They made their way upstairs with their arms around one another and crept through the dormitory. Sirius went into the bathroom first as Remus got changed into his actual pyjamas and then took Sirius' place in the toilet to brush his teeth before sleep.

When they were both finished, Remus went to crawl into bed and was rather surprised to find Sirius lounging there on his front, his chin resting on his arms gazing fondly at the blonde boy. "I hope you don't mind me being here" Sirius smiled delicately. "I just thought a little cuddle and maybe a chat before bed would be nice"

Remus smiled and crawled in under his covers with a happy sigh as he gazed at Sirius from an unusually close proximity. He couldn't believe it, Sirius loved him, he wanted to be with him and he had accepted their baby as, well, his own. "So, why exactly do you love me?" he asked curiously.

Sirius smirked. "Hmm, let's see..." he began propping himself up to playfully drum his fingers on his chin. "You're kind, you're funny, you're sweet, you're generous, compassionate, cute, easy to be around, fair, honest, loving, gentle and I have an immense amount of respect for you, you're not some next easy person, you're not dirty or cheap and you have self-resect. I also like that you don't go around flaunting yourself all over me, pretending to laugh at my jokes, acting like everything is perfect all the time just to try and get my attention, my surname and my money" he explained. "You're Remus and you're perfect just the way you are, you're absolutely stunning, too" he blushed a little on the end part. This was all new to him.

Remus blushed and found himself smiling like a bashful little girl. "Wow..." he whispered softly. "I really liked that"

"So come on, tell me why you love me" Sirius grinned settling himself down ready to hear the verdict.

Remus looked thoughtful for a moment as though he were trying to keep Sirius hanging on for longer. "Because you're so nice to me, you never turned your back on me and shunned me even when you found out about what I am, you've always been there for me, you're funny, handsome, kind, generous, you've got a heart of gold under that rough bad-boy exterior and you're just so lovely" his face was on fire with every word. He was definitely not used to this but he could get used to it very easily actually, he did truly love Sirius.

Sirius was grinning excitedly. "I know this sounds sudden but we have been friends for six years now so I feel it is time to meet your parents properly soon, the sooner the better actually now that you're carrying my baby" he said gently smoothing his hand over Remus' little bump. "I want them to know I respect you and that I'm going to be right here for you, okay?"

Remus nodded quickly. Well, he certainly couldn't argue with a statement like that. "I just don't know how to go about telling them..."

"We'll think of a way" Sirius promised gently brushing some of the stray hairs from Remus' gorgeous blue eyes. "I think doing it in person would be much more proper than telling them through a letter"

Remus nodded casually again. "I agree with you, Sirius" he breathed. "I'm very close to both of my parents, after everything we've been through together and all of the things they have done for me I don't want to disgrace them, they love me and I love them too very much" he spoke softly reaching out to fiddle with the neck of Sirius' pyjama t-shirt. "I want them to be proud of me and they deserve a proper explanation before anyone else"

"Well then, that settles it" said Sirius and Remus shot him a highly confused look. "We shall visit them on Saturday and tell them all about your pregnancy then. We have some time to think it over, it's only Monday night and we can decide what to say to them. I really want to meet your parents it would be lovely" Sirius smiled warmly again.

Remus was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You mean it?"

"I would never lie to you, Moony" Sirius grinned. "Go on, test me"

"Okay" Remus chuckled unsure of what to make of this spontaneous little game. "Umm, who did you lose your virginity to, and be honest I know it wasn't Marlene McKinnon" he said raising both eyebrows in a knowing sort of look.

Sirius did seem to find this rather amusing. "No it wasn't Marlene, not at all" he smirked playfully. "Because unless you count that mad night with you, I haven't actually lost my virginity yet"

Remus' lips parted with shock. "Y-you've never done it properly before?" he breathed. This was a surprise, he'd always assumed that someone as wealthy, handsome and fun as Sirius Black would have lost his virginity by now.

"Nope" Sirius continued to smile. "I was waiting for the right person to do it with, I didn't want to just hand it over to some lowly whore that wouldn't care for me and would gossip it around to her friends upon the first opportunity. I want someone that actually cares for me and loves me to have it. I want intimacy"

Remus was staring at Sirius in utter admiration. "I love that" he breathed.

Sirius smiled to him sweetly once again. "So tell me, have you ever...?"

Remus shook his head. "No, not at all" he breathed. "Unless you count the night we sort of did it and I fell pregnant, then no"

Sirius chuckled and pulled Remus into his arms. They lay there cuddling for quite some time mulling things over and enjoying one another's company. "It's getting late, I suppose I'd really ought to go and get into my own bed..."

"No" Remus gasped catching Sirius' arm as the boy made to climb off the bed. "Stay here with me" he said gazing at the taller boy with his big blue eyes.

Sirius stared at him a moment. "Are you sure?" he asked his eyes dropping to the bed covers as he lowered himself back down on top of them. "I can sleep on top of the covers, I don't want to be inappropriate..."

Remus gave a small laugh and pulled back the covers. "Come on under, I trust you and I know you won't do anything wrong to me, besides, I'd feel much safer sleeping here at night knowing you're right beside me"

Sirius grinned and snuggled down under Remus' warm covers beside the boy. "As long as you're fine with me being here then I'm happy to stay"

Remus gave one affirmative nod.

They lay there for some time, not too long because Remus was already very sleepy before finally they drifted off into a wonderful slumber. Remus first and Sirius followed shortly after.

...

As the sun rose above the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts, shining its stunning rays of gold, orange and firey crimson all above the towers, shimmering on the windows setting them alight casting the illusion that the entire castle was on fire, burning to cinders, Remus Lupin's eyes fluttered open.

Last night had to have been a dream, it simply had to. He sighed softly to himself and turned over coming face-to-face with a sleeping Sirius. All of the memories from yesterday came flooding back in a rush like warm air brushing over his entire body and he smiled happily to himself, that slightly nauseous churn in his stomach forgotten.

Remus sighed happily to himself as he gazed into Sirius' sleeping face. He had a boyfriend, a real boyfiend and it was Sirius Black! He smiled watching Sirius' chest rise and fall, his lips parted as he slept on completely unaware of Remus watching him. He was so, so beautiful, Remus sighed again reaching out to gently stroke his fingers along Sirius' nose and then through his hair.

"Moony?" Sirius asked sleepily without even opening his eyes, Remus could tell he was still very tired.

"Yeah?" Remus breathed.

A smile spread across Sirius' face and he snuggled in closer to the boy. "Mm, how are you feeling this morning?" he asked his eyes finally opening.

Remus shot him a smile. "Not so bad at the moment, a little sick but nothing I can't ignore"

"Is there nothing you cant take for this?"

Remus hesitated a moment. "There is but I would have to tell Professor Slughorn about the baby... and besides" he continued shaking his head, completely dismissing such an atrocious thought. "My morning sickness will disappear itself very soon, couple of weeks at the most, it has already begun to improve"

Sirius looked into Remus' eyes. "Are you sure you don't want to tell Slughorn?"

Remus nodded very quickly. "I'm positive I don't" he replied. "I can't cope with that right now, he doesn't need to know..."

"I'm not going to push you into anything you don't want to do, Moony, but wouldn't it be better if the teachers knew about your pregnancy? For health and safety reasons rather than anything else"

Remus flinched a little. "I see where you're coming from but that is a pretty huge step..."

"I know and if you're not comfortable with it then we don't have to tell anyone" Sirius smiled reassuringly. "I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything, okay?"

Remus smiled and nodded lovingly. "You're very understanding, Sirius" he spoke gently.

"You deserve to be treated fairly and equally" he replied. "I want you to be comfortable and relaxed throughout this pregnancy, stressing isn't going to make you feel any better" Sirius smiled a little.

Remus sighed softly and closed his eyes again.

"Do you want to go back to sleep for a while?"

"Yes please" Remus chuckled softly. "I'm really tired"

Sirius smiled and brushed his lips over Remus' forehead. "Go to sleep, Moony, I'll still be here when you wake up"

Remus smiled warmly again and settled down into Sirius' chest closing his eyes.

...

Another couple of hours later and Remus was woken by the sounds of James pacing around the dormitory talking to Peter.

"I just haven't a clue where he is" he said. "Sirius?" he called again and Remus blinked listening to him roughly pulling Sirius' drapes aside.

He looked up into Sirius' face, the boy looked anxious. "Should we tell him?" he whispered softly and Sirius swallowed.

"Hey, Remus!" James called, his footsteps were padding closer and closer to the bed until-

The curtains were yanked back and both James and Peter were standing over them staring down. It took a moment, just a moment for James' face to turn from his normal, mildly worried expression into absolute shock-horror. "Oh, Merlin..." he breathed his hazel eyes flickering from Remus to Sirius and back again as the two boys lay looking horrified with their arms around one another.

"James-"

"Don't you _James_ me!" James said angrily. "What in the name of Merlin is going on here?! Why are you in Remus' bed?!"

Sirius and Remus looked nervously to one another. "You see-"

"Don't tell me..." James began looking to Sirius with pursed lips.

Remus averted his eyes.

"You're _gay" _the word was spat from James' mouth like a piece of dirt, as though the conversation had turned to something vile over dinner. It was just in the same manner that the Slytherin's talked about Muggle-born's and Half-blood's.

"James..." Sirius began. "I'm really surprised at you..."

"Why?" it was close to a demand.

"Never had I expected you to be so close-minded, ignorant and rude especially to someone you view as your brother" Sirius spoke seriously.

"I never expected you to be into... guys..." James replied straightening himself up and glowering down at the boy. "And you spring all of this on me like this? You hop into bed with Remus and I find you two canoodling here together and you don't expect me to say anything?"

"We never meant for you to find out this way..." Remus began.

"Be quiet" James said without even looking at Remus.

"Don't you speak to him that way!" Sirius argued sitting himself up to square off just a fraction more against James. "How dare you treat us this way, I never had a problem with you when you said that you loved Lily, when you told us how you feel for her, so why do you have a problem with Remus and I?"

James pursed his lips, his forehead turning red the way it always did when he was furious. Most often you would see it when he had been near Snape but not this time, for once. "I have a problem with my two best friends keeping secrets from me and sleeping together"

"We haven't been sleeping together, what kind of an animal do you think I am? I would't just get with Moony and try to shag him on the first night!" Sirius protested, his face washed with shock. "I honestly can't even believe you right now, James"

James' mouth twisted and Peter shifted awkwardly behind him.

"I love Remus, and this isn't a new thing either, I think that he is the most wonderful, talented person I've ever met and I've never known anyone to be so patient and sweet in all my life" Sirius spoke honestly as he gazed at Remus. "I don't care what you think of us as a couple, but don't you dare give me all that rubbish about you feeling that what we're doing is wrong or inappropriate because I can assure you that I will never take any interest in the sort of women you like"

James looked confused, calm then suddenly rather angry. "The sort of women I like?" his voice was smooth and silky and for once, Remus could see something of Snape in the boy. Maybe they were more alike than either of them would care to admit.

Sirius gave a lazy shrug. "Now if you don't mind, we'd like to get up and get dressed without being stared at like two animals in the Muggle zoo" his voice was filled with such arrogance, Remus had to fight off the urge to smirk.

With one last glare, James stalked off out of the dormitory door with Peter trailing along behind him calling after the boy. When he was gone, Remus let out an enormous sigh of relief. "I can't believe that actually just happened"

"I can" said Sirius. "I had a feeling he wouldn't be so understanding about this"

"What makes you say that, Sirius?"

Sirius was quiet for a moment. "He finds it difficult to understand things that don't revolve around him. I understand he's annoyed that I never told him that I'm into blokes before he found this out this morning"

"I think we should give him some time" said Remus as they both climbed out of bed and he slung the covers back over neatly. "So he can adjust without feeling too left out"

"It wasn't really any of his business anyway though" said Sirius.

"I know" Remus replied. "But he's still our friend whether he likes it or not and he will come around, he loves you like a brother"

Sirius gave a small sigh and walked around the bed to give Remus a gentle hug. "Stop being so right all the time" he teased gently kissing the tip of Remus' nose.

Remus blushed again gently placing his hands on Sirius' waist, the boy wore his pressed white shirt open, his beautifully soft, pale skin showing through the split. Remus' tongue darted out to moisten his lips.

"Seen something you like, Moons?" the grin was evident on Sirius' tone of voice.

Remus smirked and looked shyly into his boyfriend's face. "Sorry"

"What for?"

"Being weird"

"Weird is another thing I love about you" Sirius winked playfully buttoning his shirt and knotting his red and gold tie lazily.

They washed and dressed quickly still hovering about in the dormitory gazing at one another.

"Are you ready to go?" Sirius asked gently making his way over to the door.

Remus swallowed and nodded quickly, how would Sirius react when they were in public together?

The two of them left the dormitory, a few odd stragglers were still loitering in the common room laughing, gossiping and as usual, going over homework due in today that they hadn't bothered to do before now. A few of the girls looked up to bat their eyelashes at Sirius adoringly. Remus had to fight the urge to roll his eyes at them like a bad-tempered lover did. Sirius chuckled in amusement and slipped his fingers through Remus'. Remus' lips parted with surprise and he looked quickly up into Sirius' face, he could feel the girls staring at him in shock and pure envy. But Remus wasn't the type of person to feel amusement at their jealousy.

"Come on" Sirius said gently guiding Remus through the portrait hole and into the corridor.

The two boys made their way down the flights of stairs heading for the Great Hall. The few people that were out and about chatting stopped to stare at their hands entwined as they passed.

By the time they reached the Great Hall, Remus was fully aware of the amount of eyes on him. They sat down quickly just a few feet away from James and Peter. James shot them a funny glance and Peter smiled warily to them.

"I feel a bit sick" Remus commented pouring himself some tea.

Sirius reached around and gently massaged between the boy's shoulder blades. "Oh no" his voice was laced with concern.

"It's the smell of the food making it worse, ever since I got pregnant I've had the nose of a Labrador" Remus smiled back slicing some fruit and putting it on his toast. "I'm okay though, I don't feel like I'm going to be sick so I'll eat something light I'm sure that I can keep down" he added.

Sirius smiled to him again and continued to stroke his back. "If you're not feeling up to lessons today just let me know, okay?"

"I will do" Remus chuckled. "But I think it would be in everyone's best interest that I actually go to my classes today so I don't miss too much and end up failing my exams, besides, I don't want to drag you down with me"

"I reckon you and my son or daughter are more important than sixth year lessons, Remus" said Sirius.

Remus smiled to him trying to ignore the fact that a few people were staring over at them rather curiously, craning their necks to see if anything interesting was happening, especially seeing as James and Peter were currently sitting away from them. Something had to be up.

They finished eating and made their way out into the entance hall, Remus glanced back over his shoulder worriedly to James and Peter but all he received was a cold look.

They made their way up the staircases once again, Remus clutching hold of Sirius' hand as they headed on up to the Charms classroom. Remus still felt nervous, people were looking at them, he knew it wasn't that they didn't accept homosexuality but it was more likely who he was going out with rather than what gender the person was. He was with Sirius Black, most eligible man in school; wealthy, handsome, pure-blood, strong family background, Gryffindor, popular and the utter bad-boy type.

"Oh no" a voice echoed loudly, bouncing off the walls around them as soon as the two boys stopped in the corridor outside the classroom.

Remus turned to look, big mistake, the Slytherin's took this as the key to start.

"The word around the castle is that you two are together now" Snape called nastily, his dark eyes narrowing as he glared at the two boys.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Don't look at him, Remus" he muttered trying to turn his eyes away from the horrible boy.

"I don't plan to" Remus said quietly shuffling in a little closer to Sirius as the boy took both of his hands. He wanted to feel safe, not just for his sake but to help protect the baby, too.

"I believe they're ignoring you, Snape" Evan Rosier commented resting his hands lazily on his hips. "Ignorance is what it is"

"You're one to talk about ignorance, Rosier" Sirius shot back.

"I am being a respectable pure-blood. I am not the one messing around with... that..." Evan made a lazy hand gesture towards Remus, wrinkling his nose with utter disgust. "And they say that your family have taste, Black"

Sirius looked like he was about to launch himself at Rosier but Remus quickly grabbed a hold of Sirius' upper arms looking up into his eyes.

"Don't listen to him, he's only trying to upset you" Remus breathed so that none of the Slytherin's could hear. He could see James and Peter leaning against the opposite wall watching everything that was going on with rather bland expressions, not saying a word to defend either of them.

"Well he's making a good job of it" Sirius said through gritted teeth turning his attention on Remus and draping his arms around him proudly. "I don't care what you are, whether you're pure, half or muggle, I still love you for you"

Snape laughed. "What would you know about love, Black? I hear your family used to beat the living daylights out of you for your disgraceful behaviour"

"If anyone is a disgrace around here, it's you and your little rotten gang" Sirius spat back. "Look at you pretending you're all something, if you were on your own you wouldn't DARE say a single word to me or to Remus and you bloody well know it!"

"Alright, the classroom is ready now, ladies and gentlemen" Professor Flitwick called through the open door at a rather high-pitched squeak.

Slowly, the class began to file in. Sirius held Remus back so the Slytherin's could go in with their weird, sneering faces and their vacant, creepy eyes before allowed his boyfriend in the room.

...

Lunch time came and passed and neither James nor Peter had spoken to Remus and Sirius. They were being utterly ignored and people were starting to sense it. Even Lily Evans had noticed the hostility between them and went over to speak to James and Peter upon this rare occasion.

"I wouldn't worry about them" she said at dinner time waving her hand lazily at the two boys eating their dinner just a few feet away. "If they don't respect you then you shouldn't bother to respect them either"

"I think she should get some respect for herself" Sirius smiled leaning across the table lightly tugging on the front of his shirt to exose his chest a little more. Remus laughed.

James and Lily looked up angrily at them both but neither of them paid them the slightest bit of attention. Remus felt bad for his behaviour but he knew he had to be strong and wait it out for his own sake as well as Sirius'. It was James who was in the wrong and James alone needed to sort out his behaviour.

"Do you think he'll ever forgive us?"

"What does he have to forgive us for?" Sirius asked shovelling some food into his mouth.

Remus fell silent.

"You don't need to feel guilty, Moony" Sirius chuckled reaching across the table to tilt Remus' chin up. "You've done no wrong and neither have I, James is the one in the wrong, not either of us"

"I know but people can make me feel guilty so easily..."

"Then don't let them" Sirius winked. "Is there anything you want to do tonight?"

"Can we go to the library and study for a short while after dinner?" Remus asked, his eyes glittering rather hopefully.

"If you so wish" Sirius smirked playfully.

They finished eating completely ignoring the people staring at them and when they got up, Remus took Sirius' hand proudly and left the Great Hall under the watchful eyes of students and teachers alike.

"At least you weren't sick today, that has to be a bonus" Sirius pointed out as they headed up those staircases once again.

Remus chuckled. "I'm not sick every day, just some" he replied. "I was sick every single morning at one point"

"I know, I was terrified that I might catch something" Sirius winked earning himself a playful bat on the arm from Moony.

Once they reached the library they headed inside, Madam Pince shot Sirius a look of warning as he passed knowing full well what the boy was capable of doing (and had done so many times in the past) causing trouble in there. He allowed Remus to lead him through the winding rows of bookcases, shelves and tables to find that private little section at the back that the boy enjoyed sitting in most where he could study in peace and nobody would interrupt them. Surprisingly enough, a private little corner did manage to stay private without silly fumbling couples coming back to have a muck around in between lessons.

"I think we should get started on that Potions essay, don't you?" Remus smiled pulling his work things from his bag and sitting himself down comfortably.

"I suppose so" said Sirius. "I'd rather be paying more attention to you" he winked to the boy making Remus flush again. "Why do you blush so often when I say things to you?"

Remus looked nervous. "Because I'm not used to people complimenting me or having desires for me"

"Get used to it because I'm here now" Sirius winked playfully. "And I am going to compliment you and flirt with you all day long..."

Remus smirked a little. "I suppose I can deal with that" he said shifting a little closer. "I mean, after all you do love me so"

"Indeed I do" Sirius spoke softly. "And you love me too for being so devilishly handsome and charming"

Remus grinned. "But of course"

"You just want me for my body" Sirius pouted playfully.

Remus couldn't help but laugh. "Don't be silly, Sirius, you know I love you for you... and your body" he added a tiny wink at the end.

"Ooh, Moony's a flirt" the raven-haired boy teased making Remus laugh again.

"I may be a shy virgin but that doesn't mean to say I can't at least try to be flirty"

"Indeed it does not" Sirius smiled warmly. "How about I get that book Slughorn told us to find? I think it's just on the other side of these actually" he said craning his neck to look around the book shelves in front of them.

"Okay" Remus nodded. "Hopefully this shouldn't take too long and we can head back to the common room early"

"Tired already?"

"You have no idea" Remus shot him a smirk as Sirius got to his feet and with another playful wink, he slipped through the bookshelves and around the other side. Remus continued to smile at them when he heard Sirius scrambling about climbing up the shelves to reach the book he wanted and the small "ouch!" that echoed soon after the thud of a few books falling down. Remus chuckled. "Are you alright?"

"Just dandy there, Remus!" Sirius called back and Remus could just hear the grin on his face.

The Werewolf shook his head still smiling with amusement as he dipped his quill into his ink and began to write.

The sound of his quill scratching lazily against the parchment only pausing for enough time to load his quill with black ink again every so often.

"Is a homosexual thought still homosexual if you don't know whether the person you imagine is into men or not?"

Remus almost jumped out of his skin, he turned quickly searching for the source of the somewhat familiar voice that spoke to him. His eyes roamed and settled on the figure of someone, someone he did not expect to see in the library at this time on a Tuesday evening. His lips parted with shock as Mulciber from his year but in Slytherin house stepped forward looking at him very expectantly.

Remus felt like he had to say something. "I-umm... what?" he blinked stupidly.

Mulciber stared at him for a few moments. "Do you think it is?" he asked cocking his head to one side, a vacant expression in his eyes.

"Umm... I guess it still counts, I think..." Remus said slowly unable to remove his eyes from this strange boy with his blue-green eyes, his pale skin, high cheekbones and his dirty-blonde hair greased back over in a 60's style, it was still long just unusually neat and it somehow seemed to show off his surprisingly familiar face very well.

Mulciber nodded once and made a small "Mm" of understanding as he continued to just stand there watching Remus.

"Ah, well I've found the book we've been after. I'm surprised nobody else has checked it out sooner!" Sirius said coming back around the corner with an old leatherbound book in his hands as he flipped through it lazily. "And-" he was cut off abruptly when he saw Mulciber standing there alone and ominous. "What are you doing here?" he blinked.

Mulciber just stood there turning his focus on Sirius. "I was merely asking your boyfriend a question"

Sirius looked worriedly to Remus. "Has he hurt you?"

"No he hasn't" Remus breathed shooting Mulciber a suspicious and very weird look.

"He's scaring you" Sirius said with finality. He dumped the book on the desk and took a step towards the Slytherin. "I think you should leave now before things get ugly here"

Mulciber just stared at him, his eyes flickered to Remus for a moment before he backed away slowly and very blankly, backwards through the bookshelves into the darkness. Sirius stood watching him leave waiting for a few moments to be sure he really was gone before he sat down beside his boyfriend again placing an arm around his waist.

"Did he do anything to you?" he asked worriedly.

"No he just sort of appeared and asked me a really weird question" Remus said glancing worriedly back over his shoulder again, frightened that Mulciber may return with a nasty surprise for them both.

"What did he say?" Sirius blinked, curious.

"He asked me if a homosexual thought is still homosexual if the person you think about isn't into guys. Or something like that..."

Sirius wrinkled his nose in confusion. "What?"

"That's what I was thinking" Remus said. "I don't know, I don't get it but at least he wasn't vicious, he seemed like he was being genuine enough"

Sirius still looked very confused. "He must be smoking something"

"Must be"

Trying to push the thoughts of Mulciber from their heads, they continued working.

...

By the time they actually made it back to the Gryffindor tower some three hours later, Remus was beat and Sirius was about ready for bed too.

"Are you going to snuggle in beside me?" Remus asked raising his eyebrows hopefully once again.

Sirius chuckled. "I would love to, Moony" he grinned. "So long as you don't mind me snoring"

"You don't snore" Remus grinned as Sirius slipped into bed beside him.

"Not yet" Sirius winked playfully. "By the way, I want to take you on a real date this weekend and if we go to see your parents then maybe I can give you a proper date then or Friday or maybe even on Sunday too"

Remus' eyes sparkled with excitement. "That would be lovely! Wait- we're going to see my parents this weekend?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it" Sirius' eyebrows furrowed slightly. "We do need to tell them, Moons and sooner is always better"

"I guess so" Remus sighed softly. "By the way, I have another pregnancy scan next Monday, would you like to join me?" he asked dropping his voice to barely above a whisper so neither James nor Peter whom were lounging reading magazines and not bothering to sleep or do any homework, couldn't hear them.

Sirius' face lit up into a beaming smile. "A pregnancy scan, really?!"

Remus' own smile began to spread further across his face and he nodded slowly. "Mmhmm, I'll be twelve weeks along then so the nurse wants to check me again and make sure that baby is still doing okay"

"Wow..." Sirius breathed. "So how much did you get to see this time?"

Remus pulled the scan photo back out again. "Everything you can see here and I heard the heart beat" he grinned.

Sirius gazed at the picture in adoration. "I still can't believe we're having a baby..."

"Neither can I" Remus smiled back. "But we are"

Sirius tucked the picture away and pulled Remus down making him yelp slightly with surprise as he fumbled the boy around under the covers leaning over him and gazing into his eyes.

The two of them remained there, Remus with his rosy lips parted slightly, his big blue eyes wide and his hands up either side of his face on the pillow. Sirius leaning down, his long black hair falling in front of his handsome face, his silver eyes sparkling and his own lips full and supple.

"Remus..." he whispered softly reaching a hand out to run his thumb over the boy's supple cheek. "Would it be okay if I-if I-..."

Remus swallowed nervously. "If you what, Sirius?"

Sirius was quiet for just a second longer. "If I kissed you now?"

Remus' breath caught in his throat, he felt a little dizzy like he were about to faint and Sirius seemed to sense this because he shot Remus a worried look. "Yes..." he breathed finally.

Sirius gazed down lovingly into Remus' eyes for a few moments before slowly he began to lean down.

Remus could feel himself melting into his pillow as his eyes fell half-lidded. He didn't want to close them fully so as not to miss this moment. He felt Sirius' warm, sweet breath on his lips and a shiver ran down his spine as slowly but surely, Sirius' warm, tender lips brushed over his own for the very first time. That's right, even when they had done it on that drunken night at the start of term they hadn't even kissed, they'd just sort of slipped and Remus drank something then fell on Sirius' cock.

Sirius exhaled a soft breath as he relaxed into the kiss holding it steady against his boyfriend's mouth, Remus' lips were the perfect size and shape against his own. He was so warm, so soft and so cuddly...

Remus gave a tiny moan of pleasure allowing Sirius to break the kiss only to brush their lips together a second time, then a third and by the fifth he was definitely a puddle of goo on the sheets.

"Your lips..." Sirius breathed leaning back up to where he was in the first place so he could see Remus' face, his flushed cheeks and his kiss-swollen lips that were utterly perfect.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Remus whispered.

"Anything"

"That was my first kiss..." the Werewolf blushed madly. As soon as he spotted the look of surprise on Sirius' face he quickly flipped his hands over to cover his own face with shame.

"Really?"

Remus gave a small, embarrassed nod.

"Moony" Sirius whispered again carefully lifting his boyfriends hands away. "Can I tell _you_ a secret this time?"

Remus swallowed nervously and nodded. Maybe Sirius had a secret equally as embarrassing that he'd like to share to help quell he humiliation that Remus felt right now. Sixteen years old and never been kissed.

"That was my first kiss too" Sirius said turning slightly pink.

Remus thought he was about to explode into his pyjama bottoms just from the sight of him. "No" he gasped, shocked. "You're joking..."

"Remus I promise you that I am not joking" Sirius said very seriously. "Sirius is serious now"

The blonde boy smirked and gazed into Sirius' eyes. He could see it in them, he was being honest. "But I don't understand, how haven't you kissed anyone, you're seventeen and you're Sirius Black!" he breathed still staring at Sirius in utter disbelief.

Sirius' blush deepened. "I might be that whole Sirius Black image but I'm a real person, Remus and I have feelings and I know that people- girls in particular- want me for my money, family, name, sperm and I wanted to wait until I found the right person. I wanted to wait until I had you to kiss someone" he smiled shyly.

It was actually the first time that Remus had seen Sirius looking nervous and, well, shy. And he absolutely loved it. "Wow..." he breathed.

"It's not that hard to believe, is it?" Sirius chuckled softly moving to lay down beside Remus.

"I guess not, I'm just surprised is all" Remus smiled softly again. "I never expected you of all people to want to save yourself like that"

"Well believe it because it happened" Sirius grinned playfully. "Wow, I really enjoyed that"

"Me too" Remus grinned snuggling into Sirius' arms wrapping the covers around them both sleepily.

"I'll bet you're ready to go to sleep now, aren't you?" Sirius smirked.

"Pretty much, I can stay up if you want me to though..."

"No" Sirius smiled warmly. "Go to sleep, you look worn out" he breathed pressing his lips to Remus' forehead once again.

"I love you, Sirius"

"I love you too, Remus" Sirius smiled warmly. He lay there for only a few short minutes watching as Remus drifted off to sleep. Oh how lucky he was.

...

Wednesday came and passed with absolutely no change between them and James or with the student body. The teachers, however, had noticed more of their relationship and would smile at them and nod when they passed in ways they didn't normally do. It was as though they knew the boys were happy together and they were congratulating them.

Mulciber too had left them alone, he hadn't made an inkling that he'd been anywhere near either of them the other night even when Snape and his little cronies had sniggered at them every time they passed.

When Thursday arrived, Remus was growing steadily more nervous about the weekend ahead. "Oh I am getting nervous now" Remus swallowed as he and Sirius sat in the library that lunch time in exactly the same spot they had done on Tuesday evening.

"There's nothing to worry about, they're your parents, they'll understand" Sirius smiled warmly.

"I hope so" Remus swallowed.

"Moony, if they can understand and accept you after your _furry little incident_ then they can understand and accept you now" Sirius smiled warmly. "Don't be so hard on yourself all the time, you're just as good as anyone else"

"You think so?" Remus asked worriedly looking up into his boyfriend's face.

"I know so" Sirius promised with a handsome smile.

"And what happens if James and Peter never forgive us?" Remus asked worriedly.

"Oh, I think they will. I don't actually think that Peter is that mad to be honest. I get the impression he's just doing what he thinks he has to to keep in James' good books"

"Well James can be very moody, difficult and unreasonable sometimes..." Remus said slowly tilting his head to one side a little as though deep in thought.

"Exactly" Sirius chuckled.

A thud and a whole load of books toppling into a pile on the floor caught their attention and they looked to one another confusedly. "Shall I go and see what that was?"

"Okay" Remus nodded. "I'll bet it was some stupid first years fooling around in here again trying to eavesdrop on people"

"Most probably but if there's a mess and they run off then we'll get the blame for it" Sirius sighed. He stood up, pecked Remus on the cheek and headed off around the shelves to locate the source of the problem.

As soon as he was gone. It started again.

"How do you tell if someone close to you is gay without asking them?"

Remus whirled around coming face-to-face with Mulciber again. He blinked and his jaw dropped in surprise.

"Well? You must know..." the boy pressed staring at Remus as though he were some fascinating object in a cage or a museum.

"I'm sorry, I don't really understand your question" Remus said shaking his head in confusion. Merlin, did he feel stupid right now.

Mulciber stared at him with those same vacant, creepy eyes. "How does one tell if a person close to them is gay without asking them?"

Remus thought for a moment. "I-I guess you would ask other people or maybe just try to see if they look at men or try to bring it up in conversation casually" he said slowly starting to feel very anxious. "Why do you ask?"

"Curious" Mulciber said, his eyes now starting to twinkle.

"Okay" Remus swallowed nervously. "But why do you come and ask me?"

"Because you are gay"

"Yeah but there are other gay guys and girls at this school" Remus quirked an eyebrow at him.

"You are much easier to approach when you're alone and Black isn't there to have a go at anyone that attempts to speak to you"

"Don't you say anything against Sirius-"

"Or what?" Mulciber said flatly just simply staring at Remus.

Remus was about to say something when Sirius came back shoving his wand in his pocket.

"Yep, first years pulling books down again trying to get years ahead of themselves" he said rolling his eyes. Then he spotted Mulciber and was instantly on the defence. "You again!"

"I'm not causing any harm to anyone" the Slytherin replied slowly.

Sirius looked nervously to Remus. "What did he say to you this time?"

"He just asked me how I tell if someone is gay without asking them" Remus replied looking up into his boyfriend's handsome face.

Sirius looked confused. "Are you trying it on with my boyfriend or something?"

"No" said Mulciber. "No way!"

"Then clear off and stop being a weirdo!" Sirius said sitting himself down in the chair and narrowing his eyes at the boy.

Mulciber stared at them both for a moment, his eyes lingering on Remus a little longer than they should have and Remus saw something in them. Mulciber for some strange reason wanted to talk to him, not in a sexual way or in a way like he fancied him but it seemed to Remus that the boy was trying to reach out to him. He watched as Mulciber turned and walked away slowly looking as vacant as ever.

"I don't know what is wrong with him" Sirius said turning around to shove his things back in his bag.

"Neither do I" said Remus.

"If he does anything to you or tries it on with you tell me and I'll hex him into next year" Sirius smiled warmly.

Remus chuckled. "Don't be mean, I think he's just looking for a friend"

"He has friends"

"Does he really?"

"I don't know what you'd call them, a sort of brotherhood I guess" Sirius replied as they both got up and slung their bags over their shoulders. "Anyway, enough about him. Let's go to lessons and try to have a nice afternoon" he smiled warmly.

Remus smiled back and leaned up to shyly peck Sirius on the cheek. Sirius smiled and laced their fingers together as they turned to head out of the library hand in hand.

...


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Friday came around, Remus and Sirius still had not spoken to James. The boy was barely even making eye contact with them let alone attempting to speak, he could just go off in his own little popular bubble with Lily, Peter and a few others leaving Sirius and Remus to deal with people staring at them, whispering about them and snickering at Remus.

"I'm starting to feel very uncomfortable with all of these stares" Remus commented as he and Sirius sank down in the beautifully plush armchairs of the Divination classroom.

"Don't let them get to you they're just jealous people" Sirius smiled moving his chair around to sit beside Remus and hold his hand. "Are you still feeling sick?"

"Not as much as I did this morning, I haven't thrown up so much in a while" Remus said wrinkling his nose in distate. "Horrible feeling, really"

"Mm" Sirius nodded with understanding. "You do seem to have perked up a bit this afternoon though which is a very good thing"

"Yes, I am feeling much better" Remus smiled gently.

"Morning sickness is a bit of a bitch, eh?" Sirius chuckled softly as he stroked the back of Remus' hand making the boy's heart flutter in his chest.

"You can say that again" Remus smiled warmly. "Now we merely have to worry about our exams, too"

"Don't stress about those for now, Remus" said Sirius. "I'm pretty sure that you'll do just fine, and besides, there are many more important things we must do before we can sit all of our exams" he smiled again his eyes flickering discreetly to Remus' tummy.

"Like have a baby" Remus breathed gently stroking his fingers over his little bump through his school jumper.

"Precisely" Sirius smiled tilting his head forward a little in just the way that made his hair fall into his eyes, that one little strand that curled up a little bit bouncing away merrily as usual. And those eyes, Merlin! Sirius' eyes were perfect, so light they were pure liquid silver with beautifully long, thick, dark lashes framing them, if Remus didn't know better he may assume that they were false or in some way altered but he knew otherwise. Sirius was just the definition of perfection and everybody knew it.

As the lesson went on, Remus was growing sleepy. The warmth in the room, the comfort of the squashy old chairs, the scent of the fire crackling and the incense in the air, the longer he sat the drowsier he grew resting his chin on the palm of his hand trying to watch his boyfriend using a little trinket to dowse with.

Sirius' ears perked up when he heard a snickering behind him and spotted Rosier and Avery grinning and giggling to one another pointing towards Remus. Sirius rolled his eyes and looked to his boyfriend, Remus was pretty much asleep but Sirius didn't mind at all, the only thing he minded about was the fact that they were laughing at the poor boy, they didn't understand and even if they knew they probably wouldn't care about Remus' wellbeing or his feelings, they would most likely just laugh even more.

His eyes wandered a little further over to the next table where Mulciber was sitting with Snape, Snape appeared to be working with his head down. Why did he even take this subject? As far as Sirius knew, Snape hated Divination with the utmost passion. But oh well, as long as he wasn't bothering anyone, Sirius didn't give two darned shakes!

Mulciber on the other hand though was sitting staring at Remus, an entirely blank expression on his face. Not moving, not making any gestures or anything unsual apart from the strange look on his face. Sirius frowned a little, what was with him? Why was he acting so weird all of a sudden? It was strange enough that he had detached from his friends to hang about strangely in the library on his own, but to persistently stare at and keep tabs on Remus was very weird.

"Maybe he fancies you" Sirius commented as they sat at the dinner table about two hours after Divination class.

"I doubt it" Remus frowned looking taken aback by this general statement. "I think he's just trying to talk to me for some reason"

"Why?" Sirius frowned shaking his head in confusion.

Remus sighed happily, he loved the way Sirius wrinkled his nose a little when he was confused, it was adorable. Nevertheless, he shrugged a little and sighed again. "I don't have a clue, I don't get the impression that his friends know anything about it because he seems very distant from them when he's looking at us and trying to talk to me in the library" he replied.

"You're right, but that could be an act because this really does not make sense" said Sirius shovelling a forkful of food into his mouth quickly.

"I don't have a clue" Remus sighed softly. "But anyway, it's Friday night, let's forget about everything that went on this week for a while"

A look of complete surprise crossed Sirius'face. "Wow, Moony, you're really showing something extra tonight"

Remus felt himself blushing just a little. "I just want to relax, kick back and try to let the weekend absorb all the stress and trouble we've had over this past week"

"I know how you feel" Sirius nodded slowly with understanding. "I am getting a bit tired of people staring at us"

Remus looked to him worriedly. "You're not going to break up with me over it, are you?" his voice was tense with nerves.

"Oh, Moony, don't be so silly" Sirius laughed reaching over to take his lover's hand. "I'd never break up with you, especially over something so petty like that. If these people want to stare then let them" he said loudly enough for the people watching them to turn and stare further. "Know what I say?"

Remus shook his head gazing into his boyfriend's eyes.

"I say that if a crowd gathers, put on a show!" he grinned and leaned right over the table in front of everyone to kiss Remus tenderly on the lips.

Remus' breath caught in his throat a little with surprise, his eyes were wide open despite the fact that Sirius' were nearly fully closed, his face, Merlin, how handsome he was... Remus could still see other people staring at them, gasping and pointing excitedly to their little 'show' but instead of recoiling when Sirius didn't stop at one kiss, only breaking it for a second so he could kiss Remus again.

Remus sighed softly and relaxed into the kiss, his eyes falling closed, this felt so right and so beautiul. Right now he could care less about the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him.

When they finally drew apart and Sirius sank back down in his seat, Remus was blushing. He looked up and Sirius was, too.

"You've got lovely lips, Remus" Sirius commented. "Have I ever told you that?"

Remus flushed a little and shrugged. "Your lips are very nice, too"

Sirius chuckled softly. "Bit shy, aren't you?"

Remus nodded, he wasn't going to deny it, he was a shy person. Anyone could see that.

"That was bloody disgusting" Lily's voice filtered over to them and Sirius rolled his eyes. "I can't believe they would show everybody _that_ filth"

"I can't believe you're so narrow-minded that you can't cope with seeing two people in love" Sirius retorted looking blankly at her. "What's the difference between Remus and I and a straight couple kissing?"

"The straight couple are normal, sane and doing the proper thing. Two men cannot possibly love each other or have a real relationship. Men are to be with women" she said arrogantly.

A few people shot her annoyed and disgusted looks but even James didn't say anything over it.

"How would you know?" Sirius challenged, his eyes flashing. "You're not gay, you couldn't possibly understand and I seriously doubt you could love anyone as much as I love Remus" he said proudly.

People looked rather impressed by this, a few small "Aww!"'s echoed about them and Remus flushed again but gazed lovingly at Sirius with a warm smile playing on his handsome face.

Lily scoffed loudly and rolled her infamous green eyes. "You've been with him a few days, you can't possibly be in love with him"

"You think I wasn't in love with him before I got with him?" Sirius quirked an immaculate dark eyebrow. "You have yet to realise, Evans, that I am able to challenge and disprove anything you say so why don't you just quit while I'm ahead?" he grinned.

Remus managed to suppress most of a chuckle.

Lily looked from Sirius to Remus and back again. "You both disgust me" she said and abruptly turned her back on them.

Sirius grinned to his boyfriend. "We obviously don't need people like her in our lives"

"That we don't, Sirius" Remus smiled back.

...

After they'd finished eating, the two boys headed out into the entrance hall at their leisurely pace hand-in-hand.

"It's a bit chilly down here, isn't it?" Remus commented as they headed for the stairs.

"I know" said Sirius. "Makes you glad we have the nice dormitory or that warm, cosy fire to get to in the common room, eh?"

Remus nodded quickly. They continued walking until they reached one of the upper corridors, that's when Remus noticed something.

He stopped walking cutting Sirius' conversation short.

"Moony?"

Remus' eyebrows furrowed and he looked over his shoulder. There standing several feet away was Mulciber just simply staring at them. Sirius' gaze moved from his boyfriend's face following after his line of site until they rested on Mulciber.

"Come on" said Sirius giving Remus' hand a gentle pull and guiding him away. "Maybe he's headed for the library or something"

"Yeah" said Remus" Maybe"

They continued walking and Remus glanced back over his shoulder as they rounded the corner with Mulciber still only a few strides behind them both. Sirius grew tense and stopped walking abruptly keeping his eyes trained over his shoulder. The moment they stopped walking, Mulciber did too, frozen in place staring at them calmly.

"Can I help you?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow at him.

Mulciber just continued to stare.

"Is there something you need?" Sirius pressed again but the boy did not say anything. Sirius and Remus exchanged confused, nervous looks. "You're making my boyfriend a bit uncomfortable, do you mind not following us, please?" he tried being polite, sometimes that worked on even the strangest and hardest of people.

"Sorry" said Mulciber. "I didn't mean to scare you"

Sirius' eyes narrowed suspiciously. They all stood staring at one another for a few moments before Sirius and Remus began walking again. Sirius draped his arm around Remus' lower back shielding him a little more from the boy as though worried he might try to hurt him, but even that did not seem the case today. He was just simply following them, for what reason? They hadn't the faintest idea.

They headed up another flight of stairs and along the corridor, Mulcibers footsteps resounded behind them even as they reached the portrait of the fat lady. They stopped and turned to look at him standing behind them, not too close and not showing any signs of aggression. He didn't have his wand out and there didin't appear to be any of his other friends following them, either.

"Look, whatever it is you want from us just come right out and say it" Sirius said flatly staring into Mulciber's face, the line of his jaw moving up towards his cheeks, his hairline shaped like a heart. He actually had rather a small face when he looked closer, he looked familiar somehow...

Mulciber's mouth opened and closed several times before he shook his head and averted his eyes. "Nothing" he said softly. "I don't want anything" before he turned and headed back down the stairs as oddly as he had come.

When he'd gone, Remus and Sirius hurried into the common room as though frightened he might come back. They flopped down in front of the warm fireplace with a sigh and snuggled up to one another.

"Did you let your mother know we're going to be there tomorrow?" Sirius asked gently as he stroked his fingers through Remus' silky blonde hair.

Remus nodded slowly against his lover's chest. "I didn't give much detail, though"

"Never mind" said Sirius. "It's probably for the best we don't give an enormous story right off the bat like that in a letter"

"I'm worried" Remus said quietly. "I'm afraid that they won't accept me"

"For being gay?" Sirius asked softly. When Remus didn't reply he gently tilted the boy's chin up. "You're a strong person, Remus, one of the strongest people I know if not THE strongest. You keep a calm head through all situations, you don't make a fuss, you have such high tolerance and you've been through so much and you're still here to prove yourself. You can do anything and your parents adore you so why wouldn't they accept you?"

Remus gave an awkward little shrug. "Because I'm their only son - their only child"

"What does that mean of anything?" Sirius blinked, confused.

"I don't know but parents often prefer that their child was straight rather than bisexual or gay" Remus sighed softly. "I love them so much and I don't want them to think less of me..."

"Hey, when they see what a handsome, charming boyfriend you've got, they couldn't possibly get mad over it" Sirius winked to him making Remus blush and then laugh.

"My mum will probably fall in love with you..." Remus admitted shyly. "She'll think you're gorgeous"

Sirius chuckled. "I think you're gorgeous, Remus"

Remus grinned again. "And I think you are, too"

...

A couple of hours later and Regulus was sitting alone in his dormitory, his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around them tightly. He felt nervous, he felt scared and he felt lonely.

He wasn't the type of person to admit anything to, coming from a pure-blood aristocratic home with high morals and a traditionally stiff upper lip, he wasn't used to being molly-coddled or having an especially easy time of it. Sure, he had wealth, purity, status and excellent breeding but it did come at a price what with his brother being the disappointment of the family and all...

But that didn't stop Regulus, not at all, rather he still cared for his brother. Despite being a Slytherin, a stereotypical nasty, he was actually a very sensitive boy with a lot of feelings. Whether some of it was due to the fact that he was only a teenager or because he felt so alone, he wasn't entirely sure. He just wanted to become the proper, respectable young pure-blood male.

His friends were down in the common room laughing and talking but he didn't want to go near them, he just wanted to be left alone.

...

Sirius lay in bed that evening watching Remus sleeping soundly, the boy was tired and expecting and growing. He smiled gently as he ran his fingers through that beautiful blonde hair, how could anyone want to hurt Remus? He was just so utterly beautiful in looks and personality. He did understand, though, that people wouldn't be very accepting of Remus if they ever found out about his secret, people were somewhat less accepting of him already because of his status as a half-blood, but Sirius didn't care. He loved the boy for who he was despite the fact he had a slight problem upon the rising of the full moon.

Remus sighed softly in his sleep and Sirius leaned over to gently brush his lips over's the boy's cheek. "I love you" he whispered as he settled down to sleep himself...

...

The next morning when Remus woke he was feeling nauseated but surprisingly well all things considered. He smiled softly to himself, stretched out under the covers and curled into Sirius' frame.

"Good morning, Remus" Sirius smiled warmly draping his arms further around the slender boy.

"Morning, Sirius" he whispered back stretching his legs out a little under the warm covers.

"Feeling okay today?"

Remus smiled and nodded. "Bit sick but otherwise just fine" he smiled back warmly. "Please don't start getting all worried and flustered" he added with a chuckle reaching up to touch the side of Sirius' face. "I don't like to see you distressed" he smiled warmly again, the corners of it touching his eyes lighting them up brightly.

"I can't help being concerned about you" Sirius pouted slightly. "You're my boyfriend and I love you"

"I love you too" Remus breathed.

...

A little while later and they were up, getting dressed (Remus rather slowly as he did not want to trigger his vomiting) and then he sat back down slowly on the bed feeling washed and refreshed and clean.

"Do you think that you can handle going down for something to eat, Moons?" Sirius asked worriedly as he placed a hand between the boy's shoulder blades to massage them gently.

Remus swallowed a little. "I think I can in a couple of minutes, if you're really hungry then you could go on ahead of me if you want to"

"No, I'd rather wait for my man" Sirius smiled back, still rubbing between the boy's shoulders.

He gave Remus a few more minutes before the boy stood up slowly and nodded to his lover.

"I'm feeling okay now" he smiled gently.

Sirius chuckled softly and nodded again. "You don't have to eat much if you don't want to" he said as they headed out of the dormitory, James and Peter had already been gone for a little while without uttering a single word to either of the boys, they were barely even looking at them now, well, James was of course much worse than Peter about these things. "I guess you can always eat something at your parents house if you want to" he smiled a little.

Remus nodded slowly. "I'm not being very responsive because I'm afraid of making myself feel more nauseous" he explained. "But my parents will make us whatever food we like"

"Your parents sound very kind" said Sirius.

"They are, I'm just scared that they won't be when they find out that I'm... gay and... pregnant..."

"Moony?"

"Hmm?"

"Is your mother a Muggle?" Sirius asked curiously.

Remus flushed awkwardly. "Yeah... is that okay?" he asked searching his lover's eyes worriedly. The look on his face almost broke Sirius' heart.

"Of course it's okay" Sirius laughed as they walked through the entrance hall and into the bustling, busy Great Hall. "Why wouldn't it be, Moons?"

Remus shrugged a little. "Because you're pure and I'm not"

"Does it bother you?"

"No" Remus said smoothly. "But it's different in the case of a pure-blood, isn't it?"

Sirius hesitated a moment as they sat down, Remus pulled an awkward face looking at the plates and trays of food before he poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice. "I won't lie and say that it isn't any different for a pure-blood, but I'm not prejudice against you, you are who you are and you wouldn't be Moony if you were pure"

Remus smiled very warmly and sipped at his juice.

"I was raised to be completely against half-blood's and muggle-born's and such but I'm not, I have no prejudice against you or anyone else for that matter. My son or daughter is also a half-blood and I have nothing but love for the baby" his voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned in his lips brushing softly against Remus' ear sending a shudder down his spine.

"I love that you're pure" Remus breathed turning to gaze into Sirius' face, their faces barely an inch apart.

Sirius chuckled softly gently stroking his nose along Remus'. "Are you still feeling sick?"

Remus gave a tiny shrug. "A little, I might be sick later on but for now my stomach is rather settled"

...

After breakfast (where they were once again ignored by James and the other's and stared at by Mulciber from over at the Slytherin table) they headed out into the grounds, Sirius made sure that Remus was heavily wrapped up in his clothing so he didn't get cold once.

"This time last year I had no idea I would be pregnant and have a boyfriend" Remus breathed. "I didn't even expect this six months ago... four months ago..." he added with a small chuckle.

Sirius laughed. "I never saw any of this coming, either. But I am very happy, I wanted to be with you and I knew I would find the courage to tell you at some point but I never thought that you would show an interest in me if I'm perfectly honest" Sirius said as they slipped through the gates.

"This time next year I'll be talking about when I was pregnant" Remus chuckled as Sirius draped his arms around him and pressed a kiss to his tender forehead.

"You will and you'll probably hugging our son or daughter then too" Sirius grinned back. "Now, are you ready to go?" he asked taking both of Remus' hands lacing his fingers through tightly.

Remus swallowed and nodded quickly, his blonde locks jumping about his face a little. With a small _crack_ they were gone.

...

When they arrived at the end of the Lupin's driveway, Remus staggered a little feeling rather dizzy and nauseated. Sirius' arms were out instantly wrapping around him holding him close and supporting him until the world came back into a normal focus.

"I feel sick" Remus groaned slumping a little so Sirius was actively having to hold the boy up.

"It's okay" Sirius smiled gently pulling Remus back onto his feet and holding him. "Close your eyes and let everything settle" he breathed.

Remus did as he was told, closing his blue eyes he focused waiting for everything to settle before finally he opened them again gazing up into Sirius' face.

"Not going to puke on me?" Sirius chuckled and Remus blushed shaking his head more quickly than he would have liked given his current situation. "I have to ask, but are we in the right place?" Sirius winced a little bit glancing around.

Remus turned blinking around and smiled. "Yeah, we are" he grinned excitedly, a hint of anxiety flashed through his eyes but Sirius wasn't about to comment on that right now.

"I'm glad that your directions were good enough, not that I doubted you for a second there, Moony" Sirius flashed him a playful grin. Remus just smiled back fiddling with the front of his boyfriend's robes.

A minute or two passed before Sirius spoke again. "How about we go inside because it's a little cold out here" he said gently.

Remus swallowed, nodded and took Sirius' hand leading him down the driveway. With a wave of his wand and they were through the magical boundaries and Sirius was gazing up at the tall, old farmhouse. He hadn't failed to notice that they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, the road that Sirius knew muggles to drive their... cars? was that the correct word? he thought so, along. It was made from bits of rubble, dust and tightly-packed dirt as though a thin layer of tarmac or concrete had been there some years ago but had been worn away to nothing. The driveway was much the same with long grass verges and strong wooden fences. In the distance around the sides of the house Sirius could see a large red barn, the paint licking off of it in places with age, the soft lowing of cows in the fields and horses grazing. He was certain there were more animals than that further around.

"You live on a farm?" Sirius asked, his voice filled with excitement as he turned to look at a nervous Remus.

"Yeah, I'll show you around the yard in a bit if you like, we have all kinds of animals. It works out much cheaper seeing as we had to move around a lot when I was a child because of my... problems..." Remus' voice grew awkward the further he went along.

Sirius nodded slowly with understanding. "It's lovely" he smiled gently.

"Thank you" Remus breathed.

They stepped up onto the front porch, Remus hesitated for a slight moment before reaching out and rapping smoothly on the brass knocker. The front door was reasonably old but Sirius could tell it had been reinforced by magic, this was a safe house and he supposed that it would have to be given Remus' situation and the fact a muggle also lived there.

They waited for a few moments before footsteps sounded and the front door opened revealing the man that must have been Remus' father.

Remus stepped through the door before Sirius could even react hugging his dad and grinning excitedly. "Hi, dad!"

"Hello, Remus" the man smiled back hugging his son. His eyes flickered to Sirius for a moment and he smiled again as Remus drew back.

Sirius politely extended a hand to the man. "Pleasure to meet you, sir" he said.

"Sir" Mr Lupin's eyebrows rose slightly, he was obviously impressed. "Nice young man, but you can call me Lyall" he took Sirius' hand and shook it firmly but in a friendly sort of manner with an impressed smile on his face. "Come on in, the pair of you" he held the door wider. Remus stepped inside and beckoned Sirius to follow him.

As Sirius stepped inside the pretty little house he was greeted by the warm, fresh scent of baking. He pulled off his cloak fully aware of Mr Lupin's eyes on him as he hung it up on the pegs beside Remus' and watched the boy closely as he swallowed closing his eyes in a long slow blink. It was evident that the food was making him nauseated.

"Something the matter, son?" Mr Lupin asked, a tone of worry filling his voice as he gently brushed past them and into the living room.

Remus swallowed again and shook his head wincing slightly. "Is mum in the kitchen?"

"Yes, we've been baking some pies and cakes seeing as you were coming home" the man smiled back. "Come on through, the pair of you" he smiled very brightly to Sirius.

Sirius smiled back and followed Remus through the living room and into the little farmhouse kitchen. It wasn't overly small but it was homely, warm and had not been decorated in years, the paint was starting to peel, he sides were a little worn and the cupboards knocked about a bit but otherwise it was a very beautiful little room with a wooden dining table and four chairs.

"Remus!" Mrs Lupin beamed hurrying over to wrap her arms around her son, Sirius wasn't surprised that the boy did the same thing in return to her. "I have missed you so much, what have you been doing with yourself?" she asked cupping his face gently in her hands.

"School work and stuf" the boy shrugged a little.

Sirius shot him a nervous look.

"How have your transformations been?" she asked, her voice at such a low whisper that Sirius knew it was not meant for him to hear.

"Just fine, mum" Remus smiled. "My friends have been helping me out a lot with them" he glanced back and smiled warmly to Sirius once again.

Mrs Lupin looked up and grinned, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement as she wrapped her arms around Sirius. "Welcome to our home, you must be Sirius Black" she said pulling back to look into his face questioningly.

Sirius barked a small laugh. "I am indeed, and you must be Remus' mother I have heard so much about" he smiled gently taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

The woman giggled and looked back to Remus again. "I never knew you had such charming friends!"

Remus just smiled to her and watched her move back across the kitchen before he looked nervously to Sirius once again. "Mum, dad?" he asked slowly. His father looked up from where he'd sat down to continue reading the _Daily Prophet _and his mother turned around to smile at him again.

Remus fidgeted awkwardly with his hands and swallowed as he looked back to his boyfriend nervously again. Sirius smiled and nodded reassuringly. "We have something we need to talk to you about..." he began slowly.

Mr and Mrs Lupin looked to one another very worriedly.

"Whatever it is you can talk to us about it" Mrs Lupin said worriedly.

"Are you in some sort of trouble?" Mr Lupin's eyebrows furrowed slightly but the look of confusion on his face, the way his nose wrinkled ever so slightly in the same way Remus' did surprised Sirius a little. Remus definitely looked like his mum with his dads eyes and facial expressions, it was strange but at the same time very cute.

"Kind... of..." Remus said hesitantly.

Mrs Lupin leaned forward resting a hand on the worktop nervously. "Remus, you're starting to scare me..." she began. "Whatever it is I'm sure we can help you with it" her voice was light and soft.

Remus pursed his lips for a moment and glanced to Sirius before slowly he began to reach his hand out. "Sirius and I are... together..." he said slowly lacing his fingers through his boyfriend's.

The look of utmost surprise washed over Mr Lupin's face and his blue eyes dropped to their hands before heading back up, Mrs Lupin gasped softly staring into their faces.

"I'm gay" Remus blurted out as more of an awkward squeak than anything else.

"Okay, son" Mr Lupin said slowly and smiled.

Remus' eyes flickered from his father to his mother whom was smiling rather proudly, her dainty little hands clasped together as she gazed at them.

"How lovely!" she beamed very brightly.

Remus and Sirius looked to one another, blushed a little and looked to them feeling ever so slightly confused on the matter. "You're not mad or disappointed?" Remus' eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion.

"Of course we aren't" Mrs Lupin laughed a little. "You are our only son and we have suspected it for a little while but we could never be sure seeing as you never said anything"

Remus blushed and opened and closed his mouth slowly. "What made you think that I might be gay?" he asked softly but very curiously.

Mr Lupin chuckled and sipped his tea resting the mug down on a coaster. "You have a pink bedroom, son" he began. "You're very gentle, you never took much of an interest in Quidditch or Muggle sports, you've never had any interest in girls, or had a girlfriend even when I asked you which ones you liked in a magazine you just shrugged and didn't choose any of them"

"You wear pink pyjamas when you're here in the summer, you sleep with a teddy bear, you cry over romance novels - none of which are usually straight couples - and sometimes the things you say might make people think you're gay" she replied with a warm smile. "I hope you don't take any offense at that"

Remus shook his head and smiled again. "No, it's fine" he breathed. "But... there's something else we need to tell you about"

Mr and Mrs Lupin exchanged worried looks.

"Alright, what is it you need to talk to us about?" Hope asked, a tiny crease of concern appearing between her eyebrows.

Sirius swallowed and exchanged another worried little look with his boyfriend. "You may want to have a sit down to hear this news" he spoke slowly.

"Shall we take this into the living room?" Remus asked quietly, his stomach churning slightly with morning sickness and with nerves.

His parents exchanged worried looks once again before they nodded and followed the two boys through to the living room. Remus made himself comfortable on the sofa in front of the fire which was crackling away as warm and inviting as it usually was during the winter months. Sirius dropped down carefully beside him slipping his fingers through Remus' resting them between their knees, he could feel the nerves radiating from Remus slightly and swallowed with anxiety.

Mr and Mrs Lupin dropped down into their armchairs looking nervously to their son and his newfound boyfriend.

The room fell silent enough so just the sounds of the fire crackling and the muggle clock on the wooden polished mantle piece ticking away filled the air. Sirius inhaled silently through and exhaled slowly through his mouth.

"We really don't want you to be angry with us..." Remus began slowly looking from one parent to the other.

"Remus, have you done something serious...?" Mr Lupin asked warily.

Remus swallowed. "I haven't done something terrible, but I have done something..."

Mr Lupin set back in his comfy old chair and looked nervously to Sirius, the boy could really see how much of Remus was in his father's face. "Okay..."

"I think it's better if we just come out with it" Sirius said quietly looking to his lover and catching his beautiful eyes in a soft gaze.

Remus swallowed and nodded slowly. "Mum, dad?" he began looking to them again. He felt Sirius give his hand a gentle reassuring squeeze to let him know he was there for the boy, he would support him no matter what and that meant the world to Remus.

"I'm pregnant" he breathed looking anxiously into their faces.

Sirius sank his teeth into his bottom lip and watched Mrs Lupin's hand move slowly to cover her mouth with shock and Mr Lupin stared in utter confusion at them.

"How on Earth-"

Remus cut his father off by pulling one of the scan pictures from his pocket and passing it over to the man. His father stared at it, his blue eyes so alike to Remus' widening in confusion.

Mrs Lupin moved over nervously to look down at the scan picture, her eyes widening in shock as she looked to Remus, trembling.

"Mum-"

"H-how is this possible?!" she whimpered anxiously. "How could you possibly be pregnant, you're a boy, I had a little boy!"

Remus swallowed and hung his head in something like shame.

"He drank a potion at the start of term, it created this... area behind his... bits and we had... intercourse there" Sirius said awkwardly shifting his eyes between the two parent's faces. "It's rare but sometimes a male pregnancy can occur" he explained slowly.

Mrs Lupin looked back down at the picture in her husband's hands.

"We never intended for this to happen, we had no idea I would conceive because we'd... been drinking and we didn't think and-" Remus' eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry..." he whimpered putting his face in his hands. "I never meant to disappoint you"

Sirius gently wrapped his arms around his lover resting his cheek against the top of Remus' fluffy blonde head and closed his own eyes breathing in that lovely warm scent. He felt sorry for Remus, it was evident that the boy cared deeply of what his parents thought of him and he wanted nothng more than to please them and make them proud of him. Getting pregnant at sixteen probably wasn't the best way to show that.

Lyall got up from his seat, strode straight over to Remus and sat down slowly beside him wrapping his arms around the boy not bothering that Sirius was still hugging the boy. "It's okay, shhh" he cooed softly to his son. "Hope" he said again looking to his wife.

The woman exhaled slowly and walked over to him kneeling down in front of the boy. "There's no need to cry, Remus" her voice was tender. "I'm not angry with you"

"We really aren't angry, son" Mr Lupin clarified.

Sirius smiled a little and released his hold on Remus a little so his parents could move in more. The boy sniffed and looked up from his mother to his father and back again. "Even though I did... wrong...?"

"You haven't done anything wrong" Mr Lupin said quietly. "Is Sirius the father?"

Remus sniffled and nodded turning a happy smile to Sirius as he clutched at his lover's hand again squeezing it tenderly.

Mr Lupin sighed softly and turned his attention on the dark-haired boy. "Are you planning to stick by my son?"

Sirius' eyes widened and he nodded very quickly. "Oh, absolutely, sir" he said. "I would do anything for Remus and our baby. I plan to get a job if I can, I want to help support him, I'll do anything for him physically or emotionally. I want to be there for him and to love him and make him as happy as possible"

Remus found himself beaming with delight and curled his arms around Sirius' waist.

Mr and Mrs Lupin exchanged looks and smiled at this little gesture.

"And I never technically deflowered your son seeing as the entrance we... made love in could have disappeared within a few days at the most so it didn't really count" Sirius swallowed watching Remus' face shoot up in flames. "I'm aware that sounds entirely inappropriate and rude but I wanted to make it clear that I haven't been... umm..." Sirius made a gesture with his hands. "Getting a leg over him, or so to speak"

Remus exhaled slowly, his face beating with blood, his ears practically throbbing with embarrassment. He knew what Sirius was doing was a very good thing but at the same time it wasn't exactly something he wanted to talk to his parents about, it was something most people would feel uncomfortable saying to their parents. Remus wasn't ashamed of those things but he did have views on sex and relationships and love and he wouldn't just sleep around, he'd made that clear to his parents, too.

"Well that's... good to know" Mrs Lupin smiled gently resting her hand on Sirius' knee in a friendly manner. "But Remus, how far along are you, when did you find out that you're... pregnant?"

Sirius could understand this would be much harder or Mrs Lupin to understand than for a mother more understanding of the Wizarding world, something like this would never have happened in the muggle world so he felt compassion towards the woman for how difficult this must be for her to come to terms with.

"I found out last Monday and I'm eleven weeks... until Monday when I'll be three full months gone" Remus explained slowly in a soft, breathy voice.

Mrs Lupin's face twitched into a smile and Mr Lupin sat looking at the little scan image of the baby. "So you're far enough along for things to be okay now?"

Remus nodded slowly. "Last week I was given a scan, checked over and everything is just fine" he said quietly. "The baby is perfectly healthy and developing normally"

"That's wonderful news" Mrs Lupin smiled gently stroking the back of Remus' right hand.

"And Sirius and I have been together since last Monday too" said Remus.

Mrs Lupin smiled to Sirius again. "It's nice that Remus has such a lovely boy to help take care of him and the baby"

Remus' face flickered with a loving little smile and Sirius grinned to his mother.

"How about you show Sirius around now whilst your mother and I get used to everything and just talk this over" Mr Lupin smiled resting a hand on Remus' shoulder.

Remus smiled to him and nodded, he took Sirius carefully by the hand and pulled them both onto their feet. "Come on, I'll show you my room" he breathed leading his lover out of the cosy little living room and back out into the hallway.

Sirius just smiled to himself as they made their way up the somewhat creaky old wooden stairs covered in a worn cream carpet, the wallpaper was peeling ever so slightly and the framed family photos on the walls. Sirius couldn't help but notice the image of Remus smiling and happy, pink cheeks, fluffy blonde hair laughing at the camera in his mother and father's arms, but as he got older until he was around four or perhaps even five (when Sirius knew he was changed) his skin became paler in some of the photos, others he looked perfectly normal but some he looked a little peaky or perhaps sickly.

"You were an adorable little baby" Sirius smiled as they made their way along the runner which ran most of the length of the wooden landing.

Remus turned back and chuckled as they stopped outside one of the doors on the right. "This is my room" he said quietly.

Sirius smiled and nodded as Remus turned the handle and pushed the door open. They stepped inside, the room was rather spacious with a nice clear window on the far wall. The floor was just wooden floorboards, kept well with a furry pink rug by the large double bed adorned with pink bedding. The walls had also been covered in pink wallpaper. "Your dad was right" he chuckled softly.

Remus looked to him worriedly. "You hate it, don't you?" he said rather sadly.

"Don't be silly, Moony" Sirius grinned nudging the door shut with his foot whilst he wrapped his arms lovingly around the shorter boy. "I think it's cute"

Remus blushed a little and stared to his lover. "Cute?"

"Pink is cute, especially because it suits you oh so well" Sirius smiled again. "Maybe we can sit?" he asked nodding towards the bed.

Remus chuckled and nodded pulling his boyfriend towards the bed to hop up and sit down on the smooth, comfortable covers.

Sirius sat down beside him smoothing his hands over the smooth, warm covers and smiled to his lover once again. He was actually in Remus' room, he'd never been here before. Curiously he took the opportunity to look around, Remus had a small dark wooden wardrobe on the wall a couple of feet from the door pressed into the corner, behind him next to the window was an old desk with a few small shelves laden with books, journals and other writing equipment. It was old, worn and the books were too but there was something so utterly charming about it that made Sirius smile. Remus also had a bedside table on either side of his pillows with small lamps on.

Remus seemed to grow a little nervous, or something like nervous as he shuffled closer to Sirius to cuddle him. "Do you think my parents are going to ask me to give the baby up?"

Shock washed over Sirius and his eyes darted to the smaller boy, filled with concern. "No, why would they do something like that?"

Remus shrugged a little. "Because I'm sixteen, I'm a boy, I'm gay, babies cost money to keep, I won't have a proper education, I'm a Werewolf, I've got no job, I probably won't be able to get a job or anything else"

"Remus, your parents love you so dearly, I love you too" Sirius began. "They are here to support you, they didn't scream at you, they didn't try to strangle me for knocking you up, they're talking it over trying to come to terms with it, they're dealing with this, everything is going to be fine, Moons and even if they did we would get a place together and raise the baby just the two of us, nobody is going to take the baby away from you" he smiled very warmly resting a hand on Remus' little bump.

Remus smiled warmly and buried his face in his lover's neck. "Thank you"

"Shh, don't thank me just be happy, okay?" Sirius cooed softly as he stroked his fingers through that beautiful blonde hair.

...

A few hours passed and Remus had fallen asleep, Sirius was perfectly fine with that, it was the weekend and Remus was pregnant and tired and after everything that went on this morning he really needed his rest.

A soft knocking at the door around five in the late afternoon. Sirius sat up a little as Mr Lupin came into the bedroom, his eyes fell on Remus and he smiled gently.

"I just came up to let you two know that dinner is ready" he said quietly.

Sirius smiled again and nodded as he gently shook Remus awake. "He's been asleep for a good few hours now so he shouldn't be too tired or grumpy about getting up now"

Mr Lupin laughed a little.

"Hey, Moony, come on it's time to wake up" Sirius spoke softly. A small groan escaped the boy's lips but still his eyes opened and he stretched lazily under his bed covers. Sirius smiled again very proudly. "Dinners ready"

Remus smiled again softly and brushed his lips sleepily over Sirius' before sitting himself up and blinking at his dad. "Hmm?"

"Dinners on the table" Mr Lupin nodded again.

When they left the bedroom, Remus was still sleepy and docile but he followed Sirius and his father down the little staircase and back through to the kitchen sitting himself down comfortably at the table.

Mrs Lupin hurried over to wrap her arms around her son's neck as her husband carefully dished up the dinner for all of them. "How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, mum" Remus breathed.

She turned her attention on Sirius. "And you're definitely okay with all of this, aren't you?"

Sirius nodded quickly. "Absolutely"

"All we want is the best for our son and although this isn't what we had in mind for him we are hoping everything will be fine very soon, as long as he has someone that will commit to him and take care of him and the baby that's all we ask for, Remus' happiness" she smiled warmly to the boy.

"I can more than provide that" Sirius smiled warmly.

The woman looked delighted and reached over to hug Sirius, too.

By the time they were all settled down around the table eating their steak pie, the sun had gone down, the air outside was chilly and Mr Lupin locked and charmed the house down safely for the night.

"Do you both plan to spend the rest of the weekend here?" Mrs Lupin asked, a tingle of hope hovering in her soft, feminine voice.

Remus looked to Sirius smiling brightly.

"Yes, we will" Sirius nodded to her knowing just how happy that would make his lover. Besides, it was very pleasant to be in a cosy little house full of love, it was strange and so... different to Sirius seeing as where he came from. He had come from a cold, unloving home, a distorted old house, a place where unhappiness festered in every corner but Remus, Remus came from a happy world with two parents that loved him deeply and spoiled him with whatever they could and helped him with his condition. It was a peculiar life and Sirius wanted to taste what it was like to live in a world like that even for one day. He also really enjoyed the company of Remus' parents, they were good, kind people.

"Perhaps after dinner we might get to know Sirius a little more, too" Mr Lupin commented his blue eyes falling curiously on the dark-haired boy.

Sirius nodded to him. "With pleasure, sir"

"You can call me Lyall" he chuckled for the second time. "It need not be so formal"

"I feel rude addressing you by your first name" Sirius said quietly.

"Nonsense" the man grinned. "But if you'd prefer to call me Mr Lupin then you may as long as I may call you Mr Black"

Remus started to laugh and Sirius found his cheeks glowing ever so slightly rosy. "Okay then, Lyall" Sirius grinned flashing those pearly white teeth.

They ate excessively and for dessert there was homemade apple pie with ice cream and custard. Sirius hadn't eaten this well since the start of term feast and even at that this food tasted better.

Once they'd finished they retreated into the living room with drinks to sit about the fire and talk. Remus didn't hesitated to crawl into Sirius' lap so they could lounge together sleepily.

"So, Sirius tell us a little about yourself" Mr Lupin said curiously.

Sirius glanced to Remus and his heart gave a flutter noticing the way the boy was gazing so lovingly at him. He smiled. "Well, I'm Sirius Black, I'm seventeen years old, I'm in Gryffindor with Remus and we share a dormitory and the same lessons, I'm a pure-blood that comes from the ancient Black family in London but I was disowned by my mother for running away this past summer as I couldn't take any of their pure-blood supremacy" he explained slowly.

Mr Lupin nodded slowly with understanding and his wife fidgeted. She obviously knew about pure-blood's, half, muggles and so on and he could understand that it might make her a little bit uncomfortable seeing as she could not perform magic. "I know your father" he said slowly with a tiny sigh. "He works at the Ministry in another department, I see him almost every day"

"It's okay, you can call him a complete tosser if you like" Sirius smirked and Mr Lupin laughed.

"I may just have to do that" he said brightly. "He has caused me some... trouble over the years..." he said slowly raising both eyebrows.

Sirius was curious. "What happened?"

"Rude remarks made about me, about my wife, my blood, that I should not be in the job I am and it should be given to someone - ah - else" he began. "He's also been the cause of a few nasty and very heated arguments in the offices and other such problems but the Ministry will not fire someone like him, it just wouldn't do in our world especially not with the present times"

Sirius sighed softly.

"But Sirius isn't like his father" said Remus. "He likes pretty much everyone and judges them on the person that they are rather than who their family may be"

"A wise choice" Mrs Lupin nodded to her son. "Do you have any career goals?"

"I'm not sure yet, I'm only seventeen" Sirius chuckled. "I've never been fully sure but I want to do something good, I'm a little more concerned with the fact that I'm going to be a father in little over six months now than what my long term plans are for my career"

"Again, a wise choice" the woman said back with a small smile playing on her face. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I believe he has a brother" said Mr Lupin narrowing his eyes slightly with uncertainty.

"Yeah, I have a younger brother, Regulus" Sirius said quietly. "He's a year below me at school, we're only a year apart"

"Are you close?" Mrs Lupin asked, her eyes shining very curiously.

Sirius shrugged a little. "We used to be before my parents... manipulated him and now we don't really speak, he's in Slytherin"

"I suspect he probably has lots of friends in Slytherin then" Mr Lupin said oddly, sipping at his drink and watching Remus very closely.

"He seems to" said Remus. "One of his friends, well I think they're friends, keeps sort of following us around a little"

Mr Lupin stopped drinking and frowned to his wife. "That's very... odd, has he tried to hurt you?"

"No" said Remus looking to his boyfriend and shaking his head. "He just sort of talks to us and stares at us and says really weird things at times" he shrugged a little.

"Maybe he just wants to be your friend" Mrs Lupin said optimistically. Oddly enough.

"Maybe" Remus breathed.

"Now, your mother and I have talked things over this afternoon whilst you were sleeping and we're more than happy to help support you both with the baby coming and all" said Mr Lupin a little more seriously. "You're welcome to stay here, come and visit and bring the baby here when he or she is born it will take a lot of pressure off of the fact that the two of you will need somewhere stable to live after the birth"

"Thank you" Sirius nodded.

"We understand how hard it can be with a new baby, how tiring and how you might really need a little help sometimes with the feeds at night and catching up on sleep and trying to get everything done, it can feel as though there aren't enough hours in the day" Mrs Lupin spoke sympathetically. "But we're sure you can both handle it well enough, you've still got a good few months to save up some money and make your preparations but as for what you plan to do about your final year, that is a subject entirely down to the both of you" she said looking between them both. "We understand how important education can be to young people nowadays"

"You're not going to make me give the baby away, are you?" Remus gasped, terror washing over his little face.

"NO!" Mr and Mrs Lupin jumped.

Sirius' eyes widened at their reaction and as they looked to one another and sat back down in their seats, still pale and edgy.

"We would never make you give away your child, Remus" Mr Lupin said quietly.

"We wouldn't be very good parents if we did something like that" Mrs Lupin nodded quickly. "The feeling of holding your newborn baby in your arms, knowing that it's your little baby is incredible and we would never want to take something so precious away from you" she said, her eyes filling with such deep emotion.

Lyall looked down and swallowed.

"We know you're very young and that you have some difficulties, we know you're a little bit insecure and we want to help you and make sure you're okay, that's all we've ever wanted for you and we want you to have the chance to have a normal little baby and a normal life without the troubles you suffer with once a month cropping up and making things harder for you" Mrs Lupin went on. "Werewolves can and sometimes do have children but they do need the support of their friends and family if that's there for them, it's hard for anyone to have a new baby"

"Nobody's going to take my baby away, are they?!" Remus asked, wide-eyed and frantic.

"No, don't be so silly" Lyall said calmly. "You don't need to get so upset about things, Remus" his voice was gentle and soothing.

"Sorry, I think it's just my hormones..." the boy swallowed. "One minute I'm laughing then the next I'm crying my eyes out over nothing or something really stupid like my toothpaste dripping into the sink"

Mrs Lupin began to laugh. "That's exactly how I was when I was pregnant with you"

"Have you much of a bump?" Lyall asked again raising his eyebrows.

Remus untangled himself from Sirius, stood up and turned to the side lifting his top up. "A little one, it's not very big yet but it's there"

Hope made a small noise of surprise and excitement and Lyall smiled very warmly to it.

...

Later that evening, Sirius had finished in the bathroom and headed back into Remus' room in just a t-shirt and his boxer shorts.

"You can borrow some pyjamas if you like" Remus said very brightly as Sirius climbed in under the warm covers beside him. "They might be a little short on you but a nightshirt should be fine"

Sirius smiled. "I'm fine, Moony"

"I don't want you to get cold"

"Remus, your house is really warm and you're practically a heater yourself" Sirius chuckled. "I will be just fine"

"If you're sure..." Remus said hesitantly.

Sirius leaned over and kissed him tenderly on the lips. "I am positive" he said cupping the boy's face. "Now go to sleep, you need your rest and hopefully you won't be up vomiting tomorrow morning"

"You and me both" Remus grinned as the two of them settled down against the pillows. "I really do love you, Sirius and I'm so happy that you came to meet my parents, they really seem to like you"

Sirius smirked againand kissed Remus' lips softly. "I love you too, so much. They're great people, I really enjoy being here"

"That's good" Remus nodded slowly. "I'm happy that everything is working out so well now, I don't know why I was quite so worried before"

"Hormones" Sirius concluded. "You're very emotional at the moment, anyone can see that"

Remus laughed and batted his boyfriend gently on the arm.

"What? You are!" Sirius grinned again.

"Shut up and kiss me" Remus grinned playfully.

Sirius stared at him in shock. "With pleasure!"

...

The next morning Remus woke slightly later than usual, he felt nauseated and sleepy.

"You're up" Sirius spoke softly, his voice filtering through Remus' mind. The boy furrowed his eyebrows and sighed softly, a tiny smile flickering across his face. "I'm guessing you're not feeling too well then?"

Remus swallowed, willing the churning in his stomach to cease for a little while. "Feeling a bit sick again"

"Do you think you're going to throw up?" Sirius quirked an eyebrow with concern.

"Not right at this second" Remus breathed opening his eyes slowly to gaze into his lover's face. "But a bit later on I might"

"Okay" Sirius breathed. "It's Sunday, I'd say we've had a pretty relaxing first weekend together at your house"

Remus smiled. "I'll have to agree with you on that one, it has been a lovely weekend"

"There's still a good bit of it left and we don't get back to school until tonight" Sirius pointed out.

"Mm, so how about I show you around the farmyard today? I know it was pretty rainy yesterday afternoon and I fell asleep which must have been pretty boring for you"

"Not really" said Sirius. "I spent the whole time reading your journal"

Remus' eyes snapped wide open and his lips parted, all the colour drained from his face. "Huh?"

Sirius began to laugh. "Relax, Moony, I found it under the pillow and put it on the bedside table, I didn't read it, I didn't even open it" he smiled warmly. "I respect your privacy"

Remus relaxed drastically and started to laugh. "I-I wouldn't have minded if you did, it's just very... personal..."

Sirius tilted his head curiously to one side. Oh so adorable. Remus almost melted.

"Personal?"

"You know, like very personal things that would be embarrassing if people found out" Remus muttered, a tiny blush creeping across his face.

Sirius grinned excitedly.

"You can go on ahead and read it now if you like" Remus said again.

Sirius smiled and looked over it the diary lifting it up, it wasn't completed, still had some pages left.

"I was keeping it over the summer" Remus explained. "I was on my own alone and didn't get to see too much of you guys and felt a little lonely"

Sirius smiled gently to him caressing the sides of the battered book in his hands. "I won't read it if you're not entirely comfortable with it"

Remus smiled a little and shook his head. "I want you to read it" he said quietly. "I don't want there to be any secrets between us"

Sirius smiled gently and opened the book to the first page settling down to read it.

_2nd June_

_Dear Diary; _

_It's the first day of the summer holidays and my friends are off with their families and stuff, James has gone to the Canary islands with his mum and dad, Sirius has gone home and probably isn't happy about it and Peter will be packing to go to Spain with his mum. I think he's going to Wales towards the end of the summer, too. _

_As for me, I'm staying here in my bedroom the whole summer, my parents can't really afford fancy holidays or nice houses or anything like that and it would be difficult with my transformations, it's a lot more expensive to go on holiday during the summer than any other time because school is out, they can bump up their prices. _

_4th June_

_Dear Diary; _

_I miss him. I hope he isn't off with some girl somewhere making out with her or having sex. I don't think I could cope if he were. _

Sirius glanced to Remus and the boy swallowed looking into his eyes before Sirius flipped ahead a couple more entries just written about what he'd eaten that day and such.

_10th June_

_Dear Diary; _

_I got a letter from Sirius today and it made me so happy. Well, not entirely because he isn't very happy with his family. His mother hasn't been treating him right again and his father has been distant, his relationship with his brother is on the rocks again, too. I feel bad about that, I wish there was something I could do. I really care for him and miss him so much and it's been just over a week. _

_21st June_

_Dear Diary; _

_It's the full moon in a few days and I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable. I feel so alone, I haven't had anything to do and nobody to talk to apart from my parents. It's hard coming back here sometimes when you're used to being around people so much at school and then suddenly you're alone again. It feels like it did when I was a small child, isolated, alone. Still, I should be thankful for what I have, many people with my condition don't even have half of what I have so for that I'm grateful. _

_Maybe it would be easier if I weren't the only Werewolf, I sometimes wish there was another Werewolf just like me that I could spend my transformations with safely and they would understand and we could be lonely together. But that's just a fantasy. _

Sirius snuggled in closer to Remus and brushed his lips over his forehead. "You're not alone, Moony" he said quietly. "You have me"

Remus smiled and settled in trying to ignore the urge to vomit that was rising in his throat. "I know" he whispered. "But sometimes I feel like I'm the only one of my kind"

Sirius skipped a few more entries until he found his name again, very prominently this time and not just in a short entry.

_2nd July_

_Dear Diary; _

_I spoke to Sirius again today, he seems really unhappy. I wish there was something I could do for him, to hold him in my arms and tell him everything will be alright. I don't know if he would be very accepting of cuddles from another guy but he does love me as a brother, I think. No matter how he loves me, or what he loves me as (if at all) I will always love him more than anything. I feel so alone and he is one of the few people that actually understand me and like me for the person I am and he never shuns me for being a great dirty beast. He's a beautiful person inside and out and sometimes I get really jealous when I hear all these stories about him hanging around with girls. I know what I have is just a fantasy and he wouldn't touch me with a stick if it came to it but I can still dream, can't I? _

Sirius closed the book and sniffed softly. "Moony... why didn't you tell me you felt this way?" he whispered softly.

Remus looked down awkwardly and gave a little shrug. "I didn't think you would be interested in me and I was scared it might spoil our friendship, especially with everything that went on with your parents over the summer... It felt improper to do something when you so needed my friendship"

Sirius smiled warmly. "You are too compassionate"

Remus felt himself blushing nervously. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No it isn't. I was merely stating that you are too much of a good person, a decent human being" Sirius said gently. "You could have told me, maybe things would have been much different if you had"

"Maybe I wouldn't be pregnant" Remus said quietly, almost sadly.

"Which is why I'm glad and very thankful that things have played out the way they have because I'm delighted you're having my baby, Remus" Sirius went on.

Remus chuckled softly and pecked Sirius on the cheek. "Speaking of babies, I may just have to go and throw up" he said lifting the bed covers back.

Sirius smiled and rested the book down on the bedside table. In a split second, Remus leapt from the bed with a hand over his mouth and tore down the landing throwing himself into the bathroom to be sick. He smiled to himself a little, got up and jogged after Remus almost bumping into Lyall on the way.

"Oh, careful" the man chuckled narrowly avoiding spilling his mug of tea all over the place.

"Sorry" Sirius smiled a little.

"Is Remus okay? I just saw him dash past looking rather pale..."

"Morning sickness" Sirius called as he hurried off into the bathroom behind his lover.

Lyall sighed to himself and smiled. He never expected his son to get a boyfriend like Sirius. Despite the rumours and cruel accusations that clouded over the whole of the Black family, he had to admit that he was thoroughly impressed with the young man's behaviour, his manners and the way he treated Remus. He treated him as a human being, not an animal or a monster the way most other people would treat him if they knew. Remus was being treated the way he deserved and had found somebody that loved him and that was all that mattered now.

"What's going on?" Hope asked worried as she stepped from the bedroom closing the door quietly behind her.

"Nothing, dear" said Lyall. "Remus is having some morning sickness"

The woman's face lit up in several different ways. "Oh!" she sounded surprised and yet somehow mildly excited too. "I'll have to make him some of that tea I drank when I was having him, it really helps with the nausea" she smiled brightly.

Mr Lupin chuckled and followed her back down the stairs towards the kitchen once again.

...


	4. Chapter 4

Monday morning arrived soon enough and Sirius and Remus were back at school and snuggled up together in the dormitory.

Sirius lay there watching Remus sleep, it wasn't quite time to get up for classes yet so he wouldn't bother Remus with waking him up so early. Remus looked adorable when sleeping and after the fabulous weekend they had had at Remus' parents house, Sirius was feeling pretty optimistic this week, especially as he clutched at the pregnancy book, ready to read some with his lover when the boy woke from slumber.

Remus turned twelve weeks pregnant today, they would also have a scan to double check that everything was indeed alright and Sirius would actually get to see his son or daughter for the first time. The thought of it made him both excited and nervous. In six months he would be a father, he would have a tiny little helpless baby in his arms with Remus by his side and although it was frightening and shocking, he was also very excited, too.

After a few more minutes, Remus' eyes fluttered open and he stretched lazily under the covers. Sirius found himself grinning at once.

"Good morning, beautiful" he smiled happily as he brushed some stray hairs from his boyriend's face watching that little smile curl in the corners of Remus' lips.

"Morning" Remus said sleepily. "Remember what today is?" he said, automatically looking brighter.

Sirius smirked. "Not a clue"

Remus laughed sleepily and playfully batted his lover on the arm. "I turn twelve weeks pregnant today" he said in a hushed voice so that neither James nor Peter could hear them. Despite the fact none of them were on speaking terms, Remus was certain that James and Peter would be more than happy to listen in for idle gossip, especially if either of them could report it back to Lily. It was sad, really.

Sirius chuckled softly. "I remember, really" he teased giving Remus' cheek a playful little pinch. "Do you feel okay this morning or are you still sick?"

"I'm a little nauseated to tell you the truth" said Remus swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth one often tasted when they were about to vomit. Bile. Lovely. "But nothing too intense, I think I'll manage this morning"

"That's good" Sirius smiled gracefully. "Shall we get up and get you to the hospital wing?" he asked raising both eyebrows but not enough to crease that smooth, pale forehead.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world" Remus breathed.

Shortly after that, they were up, washed and dressed leaving the dormitory as James and Peter were still mucking around, watching them suspiciously as Remus left in Sirius' arms, bent over slightly and hugging his tummy.

"Weirdos" Prongs muttered and Sirius shot him a deathly glare before slamming the door in their faces.

"You really don't need to be so protective of me..." Remus said glancing up into Sirius' face as they headed through the cosy little common room. A few people were sitting there eating scones and toast they'd brought up from the Great Hall, and others were doing their homework in a rush. A usual.

"Let me" Sirius smiled warmly. "Let me look after you and love you and sweep you off your feet" he breathed, his silver eyes twinkling like jewels.

Remus chuckled and felt himself going slightly red. "You're such a girl sometimes" he chuckled.

"From what I hear you like some romantic literature yourself, Moony" Sirius winked playfully watching Remus blushing madly as they made their way to the hospital wing. Along the corridor.

When they arrived at the hospital wing, Sirius turned to Remus and smiled still clutching the boy's hand nervously. "Are you ready to go inside?"

Remus swallowed and nodded. "Are you?"

"Just about" Sirius chuckled nervously. "I am excited and anxious to see our baby for the first time, I know you've already seen him or her, but I haven't apart from in the scan photograph"

Remus chuckled nervously and leaned up to quickly peck Sirius on the cheek. It was such a random and odd gesture it took Sirius by surprise. But he still loved it!

"Don't be nervous, it's actually okay, she'll put this scanner over my tummy and it'll show the baby and we can see what's going on in there and how the baby has been developing. I hope it's changed since last week, the book says so"

Sirius smiled gently again. "Would you like to go in now, babe?" he asked raising both eyebrows again.

Remus just simply smiled and nodded as he and his lover strode forth into the hospital wing through the double high archway.

"Good morning" Madam Pomfrey smiled to Remus. She straightened up from where she was tidying things up in. Her eyes flickered from Remus to Sirius rather curiously. "All ready for your scan, then?" she continued to smile.

Remus nodded quickly and looked to Sirius. "We're ready" he breathed gazing at his boyfriend lovingly.

"Very well" she tilted her head towards them once. "Follow me"

They followed after her gesturing little hand behind the long, draping white medical curtain that had been left since last week when Remus came in alone.

Sirius looked somewhat confused and followed Remus over to the bed.

"Should I do what I did last week?" Remus asked quietly watching the woman rolling back her long sleeves and spelling her hands clean and sharp.

"Please" said the nurse.

Remus hopped up on the bed under Sirius' watchful, twinkling and thoroughly curious eyes. He propped up the plump, white pillows and lay back exposing his navel to the room. In the past week had had gotten a little bigger - still not big- but he had a bump going on down there, even if he did just look very bloated.

With a sigh he rested himself back and clutched at Sirius' hand gazing at the boy lovingly. "Are you okay?" his voice was small.

"Yeah, just wondering what's going to happen" Sirius said watching the nurse snap on some clean latex gloves and spread some clear gel over Remus' little bump. It looked to Remus as though he wanted to throw himself over the boy or do something extra to protect him, like he thought he had to do something useful other than just stand there confused.

"How have you been feeling this past week? Pomfrey asked curiously as she pulled the scanner and monitor closer to the bed.

"Not so bad, actually. I think finding out why I've been ill has helped settled me down so I'm not stressed any more" Remus smiled a little as she tapped her wand three times to the top of the machine, the magic whirred it into life.

"Any problems or concerns?" the nurse asked with genuine curiosity.

"No" Remus said.

"Okay, are you ready?" she asked softly looking from Remus to Sirius and back again.

Remus looked up into Sirius' face and smiled warmly, he felt himself blush ever so slightly when Sirius added some pressure to their clutched hands. _I'm here, we'll be okay_. He didn't need to speak, his eyes spoke for him. "Yes" Remus breathed without taking his eyes off of his boyfriend. "We're ready"

And with that, the nurse pressed the scanner down onto his growing baby bump moving it around until the image of the baby appeared on the monitor screen. Remus looked to it and gasped, a tiny groan escaping his full, pink lips as he gazed in adoration at the moving, flickering image of his baby- their baby- on the screen. "Sirius... Sirius, look!"

Sirius, looking slightly confused, looked, to Remus from where he was staring at the boy's tummy. His silver eyes fell on the screen and a wave of dizziness swept over him. His knees shook, weak, as his lips parted and a gasp escaped his throat. "Oh, Moony..."

Tears welled rapidly in Remus' eyes, he made no attempt to blink or wipe them away.

A small chuckle slipped from Madam Pomfrey's throat. "This must be the first time you've seen your baby in a scan" her eyes turned to Sirius and he nodded sniffing hard and straightening himself up.

"Yes, it is" he breathed.

"You'll be pleased to know that everything looks absolutely fine in there, you've reached the three month mark so the risk of miscarriage is very, very tiny" the nurse explained turning to Remus once again. "Have you done much reading on the matter?"

Remus sniffed again and nodded quickly. "Yes, but we haven't been reading about it this morning"

The nurse looked to Sirius again and smiled graciously. "It's okay for you to show emotion, Mr Black" she said. "It's perfectly normal to feel overcome with emotions when you're first seeing your child, this is the little life you and Remus created together so it's only natural for you to feel something towards it"

Sirius exhaled shakily and leaned down to brush his lips over Remus' forehead. "I just- it's all so new to me, Remus too" he breathed, his eyes still focusing on the screen where the baby was softly kicking its legs. "I don't know what I had been imagining this to be like, but it certainly wasn't like this... so intimate"

Remus sniffled quietly and wiped his eyes again exhaling a shaky breath.

"Would you like to know a little bit more about baby?" the nurse offered quirking an eyebrow at them both.

Remus and Sirius nodded quickly without even having to think for a moment.

Pomfrey turned her attention back on the monitor shifting that curious scanner around a little. "Your baby is twelve weeks along, measuring three-and-a-half inches in length and weighs a whole ounce. So there has been a good bit of improvement since last week" she smiled graciously to Remus whom was nodding quickly.

"Just over a week and you'll be in your second trimester" she said again.

"What does that mean?" Sirius frowned, confused.

"It is merely the second stage of pregnancy, often referred to as the most comfortable" the nurse explained. "The risk of miscarriage is extremely low, the baby is high in development and you are at your most comfortable point where you are not too big you are uncomfortable but not so small it isn't noticeable, nor will you be suffering any of the first trimester symptoms such as morning sickness and excessive tiredness"

Sirius nodded slowly with understanding and smiled to Remus quickly before turning his attention back on the monitor. This was all so new to him, at least Remus had had last week's scan to prepare and be somewhat more aware of what would be happening today, but he'd had very little. It was so strange, scary and new but at the same time, so beautiful.

"You are now a third of the way through your pregnancy, your baby has developed the skeletal structure and main organs so now the brain will be hitting a period of rapid growth" the nurse explained again. "Baby also has his or her own unique little fingerprints"

"Fingerprints?! Really?!" Sirius gasped, his eyes widening and a smile stretching across his face. He looked to Remus whom looked positively delighted, also.

The nurse smiled and nodded once. "There's still a lot of detail work and fat build-up to come along with the baby, but everything here is developing as it should and I can see absolutely no signs of any abnormalities" she smiled very warmly to them both.

"I-I still have concerns about my-my condition" Remus swallowed that hard ball in his throat.

Madam Pomfrey closed her eyes and shook her head, a serious expression crossing her face. "There is nothing to fear, Mr Lupin, your child has not been bitten and infected by Lycanthropy. It is a blood-born illness and not so much a genetic. There have been very few Werewolves that breed, however the ones that have have not had any Werewolf children born of them, some created"

Remus nodded slowly and looked to Sirius shooting him a brief, nervous smile.

"So that means our baby is completely uninfected?" Sirius asked quickly, seeing the look on Remus' face as though he wasn't quite convinced.

"Your baby is completely normal, human and uninfected in every manner speaking" she smiled warmly.

Remus smiled and relaxed softly stroking his thumb over the back of Sirius' hand. "That is an enormous relief, you don't know how much so" he said to the nurse whilst actually looking at Sirius again.

The nurse graced again and turned her attention back to the monitor screen where the boy's eyes soon followed. "The arms are now in proportion to the little body, however the legs are still a little short which is completely normal at this stage and they will lengthen out very soon"

Sirius sighed happily with relief. "Anything else?"

"Yes, you may also be interested to know that the baby is practising voluntary movements as previously the movements he or she was making were jerky and twitchy, now he or she can move properly and more gracefully. In around one or two months you'll feel your first movements and eventually you should be able to see a hand or footprint if not a kick from the outside of your body and you may even be able to tell what baby is doing in there" the nurse explained. "There are lots of other things like sensing light and sound and touch that baby will grow to be able to sense in a few short weeks"

"Wow" Remus breathed shaking his head, his eyes filling with joyful tears once again as he looked to that very same monitor screen. "I never knew there was so much that could possibly go into a pregnancy"

"Most people don't until it comes a time when they are involved with it themselves" Pomfrey smiled warmly to them.

They continued to watch the baby move and wriggle on the screen before the nurse tapped it again and the sound of the heartbeat filled their ears.

Sirius thought he may be about to pass out and had to actually perch himself on the edge of the bed his legs were shaking so much. He wasn't afraid or distressed, not at all, he was excited and overwhelmed by this whole thing. He was going to have a baby with Remus, a real life baby.

When they were done, Pomfrey removed the scanner from Remus' growing bump and passed him some tissue to clean up with which Sirius took and did it for him as she tapped to print some more scan pictures for them.

"I'm more than willing to write you a note to take to Professor Slughorn if you would like some of that potion to help with the last of the morning sickness" she said tentatively handing them both their pictures.

Sirius gazed down at his in utter delight watching the replay of his child kicking his or her legs to him innocently.

Remus smiled and shook his head. "Thank you for the offer and I appreciate it greatly, but I do not really feel it's time to involved anyone else in this whole pregnancy thing"

"You will have to tell people sooner or later for your own safety and because you won't be able to hide under those baggy school jumpers forever" Pomfrey pointed out nodding down to Remus' stomach, her forehead creasing as she raised her eyebrows again.

Remus felt an odd blush scatter across his cheeks and he pursed his lips nervously looking down at his photographs. "I know but for now I would much rather keep everything a secret, I have already told my parents, we went to see them on Saturday and all is very well in that aspect as with the baby itself"

"Wonderful news" the nurse smiled warmly. "Is there anything else I may be able to help you with this morning?" she asked looking from one to the other and back again.

Sirius smiled and shook his head, Remus thanked her but declined it.

"Very well, any problems or concerns please do come and see me right away" she said. "Don't be hesitant, it's my duty of care for you both"

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey" Sirius smiled very warmly.

"I really appreciate all of your help" said Remus.

"It's no trouble, boys" the woman waved to them.

They thanked her once more before heading out of the hospital wing pocketing their scan photos deep into their inside pockets were nobody could accidentally stumble across them.

"Oh, Moony" Sirius beamed throwing his arms gently around the boy and gathering him up. Remus started to laugh, relief and happiness washing over him in outstanding waves as his lover twirled them around together carefully. He didn't mind being lifted from his feet or swirled around like a girl, he didn't give two shakes about it at all. He loved Sirius and was overjoyed about their scan. Who wouldn't be?

"I'm so happy everything is okay" Sirius breathed finally resting the boy down on his feet, his face still buried in Remus' neck. "I don't know what I was expecting for today but I wasn't expecting that, the baby so clear on the screen" he breathed pressing his lips softly to Remus' skin.

Remus exhaled a slow breath and smiled hugging Sirius tighter. "I'm happy too, and so relieved everything is fine..."

"We're actually going to have a baby, Remus" Sirius said again pulling back to look into his boyfriend's eyes.

Remus noted how bright Sirius looked, how sparkly his eyes were, how bright his teeth, how wide his smile, he was positively beaming with joy and it radiated onto Remus perfectly. He closed his eyes in a long slow blink basking in Sirius' sunshine glow of utter perfection. How did he get so lucky?

"I know" Remus beamed. "And I'm so happy I'm having a baby with you"

"Thank you" Sirius smiled again, a hand coming up to gently cup the side of Remus' adorable face. "Thank you so much" he said shaking his head ever so slightly, that same smile still lingering on his face.

"For what?" Remus laughed, frowning in confusion.

"Giving me the family I never had" Sirius whispered back and before Remus could say a single thing about it, Sirius had leaned forward and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

...

When they actually arrived down at the Great Hall, Remus was beaming, Sirius was radiating his joy in leaps and bounds as he practically skipped into the room. People turned to look at them suspiciously and someone mutterd a comment about getting laid. They completely ignored it.

"Eat up, you and baby need it to be healthy" Sirius smiled piling some food on Remus' plate for him completely ignoring James and his little crowd whom were staring at them in mild disgust.

"I'm going to get fat" Remus laughed playfully.

"I don't mind if you do" Sirius smiled back. "Do you think you can stomach it?"

Remus swallowed and looked down at the array of foods on his plate. "Yeah, I think I can manage it" he nodded looking to Sirius. "I'll have to eat slow though, okay?"

"Take as much time as you need" Sirius smiled again very warmly as he poured the boy a drink and set to work gathering some food up for himself. "Maybe later you'd like a foot rub and some kisses?"

Remus chuckled softly nibbling at a peach. "I'd love that very much, thank you" his eyes fell half-lidded and for a moment there he'd forgotten they were in a public space. It felt as though the world had dimmed around them, like the lights had gone down, the music turned off so only Sirius mattered to him and only their relationship was going on. Remus loved that feeling very much indeed.

After breakfast they made their way off to Potions. Remus was still nauseated as he settled himself down in his seat and pulled out his books. They were still drawing diagrams and writing their annotations and summaries from last lesson in preparation for their mocks in a few months (January).

"Everything okay, Moons?" Sirius asked raising both eyebrows at the boy curiously.

Remus nodded quickly. "Nauseous but I don't think I'm about to be sick, maybe a little bit later on though" he replied.

"We need to start getting baby stuff soon" Sirius said quietly. "Maybe in a week or two we could go and pick up a few bits"

"That would be a very lovely idea" Remus smiled lovingly again. "It would be much more helpful if we knew what the sex of the baby is"

Sirius chuckled softly again. "In good time, Moony"

Remus sighed happily and continued writing.

...

By the end of the day nothing had changed with James, even as Sirius and Remus sat in the library chatting and working on their History of Magic essays that only Remus had really taken any notes on as Sirius usually slept through every lesson and somehow managed to pass every exam he took with minimal effort. Sometimes, just sometimes, Remus could feel a little jealous of the boy.

Every so often Remus would look up into his boyfriend's handsome face, the way his lips parted softly moving as he read to himself silently from his text book. He sighed and smiled to himself, how did anyone get to be that handsome?

The was a small noise coming from the otherside of the long row of ancient bookshelves in front of them. Remus looked up and frowned confusedly, it sounded like another person. He glanced to Sirius whom shot him a confused look. The person sounded rather distressed.

"I'll go and take a look..." Remus said getting up quietly from his chair. One felt the need to be as quiet as possible in these situations so as not to startle the person in need.

"No I'll go" Sirius tried resting his hand on Remus' arm. Remus chuckled softly. "Fine" Sirius smirked. "We'll both go"

"We can be so childish sometimes" Remus mused as they laced their fingers together and made their way around the desk.

It only took a mere moment to walk around the bookshelves and what Remus saw nearly broke his heart.

"Ohh..." his face creased a little.

Mulciber was standing leaning against the wall crying his eyes out alone.

Shock washed over Sirius and that icy biting sensation in his stomach hit. He quickly glanced around looking to see if any other Slytherin's were about, or anyone in general that may see him, really. He'd never seen Mulciber like this before, the boy was normally hard, cold and somewhat cruel. In fact, Sirius had always thought the boy was incapable of tears of showing any emotion, he was blank most of the time which made him extremely difficult to read. Especially when he was stalking them...

Remus moved forward with his arms outstretched and Mulciber looked up quickly, alarmed. Sirius tensed up his hand hovering over the pocket where his wand was situated, but rather than lashing out at Remus, Mulciber just shrank back further trying to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

"It's okay" Remus spoke very softly in that voice that could melt the coldest iron. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything..."

Mulciber sniffed hard, eyeing Remus carefully as he stopped attempting to wipe the tears from his face that were still streaming down.

Sirius stepped forward a little as Remus gently placed his hands on Mulciber's upper arms watching them very closely out of fear Mulciber might actually decide to hurt Remus and their baby.

Mulciber exhaled a shaky breath and looked Remus in the eyes, almost with pleading.

Remus looked pitifully into his green-blue eyes and gently wrapped his arms around the boy in a friendly hug. He felt so sorry for him, he'd feel sorry for anyone like this but Mulciber seemed more... in need of the care than other people, he seemed like he'd never really had it much before. Especially from his friends. "Hey, don't cry..." Remus said in that ultra soft voice once again.

Mulciber sniffled a little and wrapped his arms shakily around Remus in return.

They remained that way for some time as the boy's sobs turned into little shakes and sniffles where his tears were easing off. And when he finally did speak the words took Remus by complete surprise.

"I'm gay..." he whispered.

Remus tensed and swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat. "H-have you only just realised?"

Mulciber sniffed again and shook his head exhaling slowly through puffy red lips. "I've known a while..."

Remus frowned in confusion and pulled back to look into the boy's face. "Then why are you crying?"

Mulciber hesitated another moment before he said. "I just... I really need someone to talk to, to confide in that I can trust"

"You can talk to me, I know you don't know me very well but I won't tell anyone" Remus spoke softly.

Mulciber looked into his face then glanced warily back at Sirius, his hand moving towards his pocket as though he were about to take out his wand and hex him.

"Sirius won't tell" Remus said quickly, trying to diffuse the problem. "Honestly, he won't tell a soul"

Mulciber looked to Sirius warily again and then back to Remus. "You have no idea what's going on..." he breathed out shakily. "Y-you need to sit down"

Remus looked very concerned. "We left our stuff round there" he gestured through the bookcases. "Do you want to come and sit with us?"

Mulciber sniffed, wiped his face and nodded.

Remus turned to Sirius and smiled, the boy smiled back and began walking back around the bookcases with Remus and Mulciber following along behind.

Sirius was stunned by the compassion Remus was showing today. Even for Remus it was a lot. The boy was beautiful inside and out. Remus had such a big heart despite what people thought of Werewolves, how prejudice they were against them, how much they claimed to hate them when Remus was actually the sweetest little angel, especially for a boy. Watching Remus helping someone that previously bullied, harassed and mocked him for being half-blood among many other things brought about new waves of emotion and made Sirius want to cry. He had never been more proud of a human being in his life, not even himself.

When they sat down, Remus pulled another chair around for Mulciber and the boy sat down cautiously. Briefly he did wonder why the boy was being so friendly towards him this year, it was... unusual...

A few moments passed of Mulciber wiping his eyes on his sleeves and sniffing a little (obviously trying to regain his demeanour) before he finally said something. "I feel like such an idiot"

Remus blinked. "Why? You haven't done anything wrong..."

"I have embarrassed myself and shamed my Slytherin pride" Mulciber said quietly looking down at his lap, that usual blankness washing over his pink face.

Remus pursed his lips and shook his head so his blonde hair swayed about his face. "I don't understand, please tell me what's going on? Are you hurt?"

Mulciber sniffled again for a moment and shook his head. "I'm a lot of things but hurt really isn't one of them"

"Then what is?" Remus blinked, confused.

Mulciber hesitated a moment, shifted awkwardly in his seat and jammed his hands between his knees. "I'm in love with someone that I don't think likes me back and... it's a guy..." he said in a tiny voice, the sort of voice you'd expect from Remus when he was shy, not someone like Mulciber.

Remus' eyes widened a little. "Okay, and is this guy a friend? Is he single?"

Mulciber sniffled slightly again without meeting Remus' eye. "Yeah, he's my friend and yes he's single"

Sirius pursed his lips a little. He knew exactly how Mulciber was feeling right now, he could understand, he could see that look in his eyes, the look that was so familiar to him because it was the very same look he'd had over Remus for such a long time before they were together. Only he hadn't come out about it to two people that he previously allegedly hated.

"I suppose you wouldn't tell me his name if I asked?" Remus spoke softly.

Mulciber pursed his lips and averted his eyes.

"I thought not" Remus sighed softly. "Have you actually asked him whether he likes you, or likes guys...?" he tried.

Mulciber swallowed. "No, but he is a pure-blood and in Slytherin..."

Sirius didn't have to ask any more, he knew what that meant. A pure-blood Slytherin was classed as the highest ranking pure-blood, meaning that they had to have all of the pure-blood values, they must conform to what is expected of them and they must get married and have children with a pure-blood, respectable woman or not get married at all.

"But you're a pure-blood" Remus frowned confusedly looking into the boy's face.

Mulciber sat chewing on his bottom lip for a moment. "Loving someone that will probably never love me in return isn't the only thing I need to talk to you about..." he said smoothly. "But that's not for now" he finished waving a hand at the boy.

Remus swallowed and nodded slowly. "I understand if you don't wish to talk to me about such personal issues"

"I see you and Black there" he said glancing up at Sirius. "I see you walking around together, I see you being together and I saw you kissing in the Great Hall the other day and you're not afraid of what people will say or think of you because you're gay"

"We have been a little worried, but nothing more than that" said Remus.

"We're not ashamed to be gay" said Sirius. "There's also a lot more to our story than anyone knows, just like you"

Mulciber sniffled and nodded slowly. "I don't wish to pry, I merely wish to feel like I belong. It sounds pathetic me of all people saying that, but I want to be around other people that are like me sometimes so I stop feeling like such an outcast and a freak"

Remus gently rested his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You're not an outcast, or a freak" he said gently. "You're a normal human being with normal human emotions despite what you like to portray to everyone else and it's okay to have feelings and want to be with someone regardless of their sex"

"And what if they don't want to be with me? What if they only view me as a friend?" Mulciber asked worriedly.

Sirius burst out into fits of laughter, Remus looked to him in surprise as the boy made him jump. Mulciber on the other hand looked absolutely furious and embarrassed.

"It's not funny!" the Slytherin protested.

"I'm not laughing at you!" Sirius was beaming, tears in his own eyes he was laughing so hard. "It's just, you have no idea how much you sound like me when I thought Remus wasn't interested in me. I spent months feeling like that and then I got my Remus" he added with a warm smile at the end of his sentence. He wrapped his arms around Remus making the smaller boy smile as he brushed his lips over his cheek. "He's gorgeous and I'm so happy that he feels the same way about me, you know how I got him?"

Mulciber shook his head a little, his eyes fixated on them with absolute fascination.

"I came right out and told him how I feel, I did it privately in the common room where there were no other people around, I had even arranged beforehand to talk to him and he reciprocated my feelings. I didn't want to ruin my one and only chance with him so I made sure to pull him aside with no distractions or the threat of others looming over him so he could make his choice without having to feel pressured or worried" Sirius explained, looking more to Remus when he spoke watching that beautiful rose blush scatter across his Werewolf's face.

"I was actually planning to tell Sirius that I'm in love with him but he sort of beat me to it, it wasn't the only thing I planned to tell him about" Remus swallowed nervously. "There was something else I had to tell him about"

Mulciber looked a little concerned.

"Nothing bad" Remus laughed anxiously. "Nothing to be concerned about, I'm... just in a... delicate condition at the moment" he smiled a little.

Mulciber shot him a funny and suspicious look but shook his head and sighed. "Gryffindors..."

Sirius couldn't help but allow that little chuckle building in his throat to escape as he slung an arm lazily around the back of Remus' chair.

"My point is that you don't need to be afraid of your sexuality, own and love it" he smiled again. "There's nothing wrong with you, there's something wrong with all the people that say there's something wrong with you for being able to love another human being"

"Remus that's beautiful" Sirius breathed, his eyes widening ever so slightly and those full, pink lips parting.

Remus blushed a little and gave a tiny shrug. "I just thought I was being helpful"

Mulciber smiled a little. "You are" he said slowly. "I just don't think that my friends would take too kindly to me suddenly prancing around in fairy wings and high heels"

Sirius looked taken aback. "Just because you're gay doesn't mean you have to follow a certain stereotype. I'm gay and I'm not prancing around in anything like that, nor is Remus" he said nodding to his boyfriend once again.

"I know but you get what I mean, in my current situation I can't afford for anyone to take any other reason than they already have to hate on me" Mulciber said, his tongue darting out to moisten his soft looking lips.

Remus shot him a suspicious look. "What do you mean like that?"

Mulciber exhaled slowly through his teeth. "If you knew my friends well enough, you'd understand there's things that I can't really talk to them about and if I did I would be skating on thin ice and it's never a good idea to push your luck"

Remus and Sirius exchanged worried looks. But before they could say anything, Mulciber spoke again. "You might understand in time, but for now there's things that I need to talk about that I just... I just _can't_ and it's nothing to be worried about"

Remus nodded slowly. "I understand, you feel the weight of the entire world on your shoulders and you need trust before you can do anything. But I still don't get entirely why you chose to talk to me of all people about this"

Mulciber snapped his teeth together a few times, his eyes focused thoughtfuly on the side of the desk by Remus' hand. "I'll talk about that when the time is right..." he breathed. "Thank you for your time..." he said getting slowly to his feet and turning to walk away.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute" Sirius said holding his hands up submissively. "Where are you going? I thought we weren't done here yet..."

Mulciber sighed, his shoulders lifting a little. "I just feel like I need some space" he spoke over his shoulder and then disappeared through the book cases and out of sight before either of the two boys could do anything to stop him.

Remus and Sirius were left gobsmacked staring after the boy, the room had fallen very still and silent, so much so that Remus could even see the specks of dust in the air floating down from the ancient bookcases.

...

They didn't utter a single word as they packed up their things rather slowly and made their way back to the common room. It was close to closing time in the library when they actually left and it didn't take long for them to track the halls and staircases up to the Gryffindor common room, their footsteps echoing loudly, almost menacingly as they walked together.

James and Peter were in the common room with Lily and a couple of other girls and guys from various years around their own, they didn't even look up when Sirius and Remus returned, however Lily did whisper something in James' ear, her green eyes fixed on the two boys holding hands as they passed.

Neither one of them batted an eyelid at them and made their way up into the dormitory in silence with their heads held high and firm as they should be. They had nothing to be ashamed of.

Up in the dormitory the two boys washed, changed and climbed into bed together closing the curtains so when the other two did eventually come up they wouldn't be able to see in on where they were sleeping.

"I am so proud of you, Remus" Sirius spoke softly as Remus nestled in closer, burying his face in Sirius' neck.

"What for?" the smaller boy breathed. "I didn't really do anything"

"You're so compassionate, so strong, so able minded, so... just so wonderful" Sirius spoke in a soft, soothing voice as he brushed some of that shining blonde hair from Remus' face so he could look at his lover better. "I fear of the day someone tries to steal you away"

Remus laughed. "Nobody is going to take me away from you, not now, not ever" he smiled warmly. "I love you"

"I love you too" Sirius smiled back affectionately. "I also loved the way you handled Mulciber today, I feared he would cause harm to you, I feared he would not treat you with respect but he was oddly... kind" a tiny crease appeared between his immaculate, black eyebrows.

Remus sighed softly. "Treat those the way you yourself wish to be treated regardless of their behaviour, it only deminishes their reputation more if they treat you badly when you are treating them with kindness"

"That is very true" Sirius said, oddly surprised at Remus' compassion. "I think your hormones may be affecting your mind slightly, making you more emotional than you normally are"

Remus let out a laugh. "Yes, I think they are to be quite honest with you, Sirius"

Sirius leaned in and brushed his lips over Remus' tenderly. "Do you realise how much love and respect I have for you?" he smiled, his eyes lighting up. "Not just for today but in general, you're the rare sort of person Moony and it's really special so don't ever change"

Remus felt himself glowing both inside and out, he tilted Sirius' chin and kissed him on the lips in thanks. He couldn't think of any words to say, he was just so happy that Sirius felt this way about him, he liked being seen as special and a good guy, that's all he'd ever wanted to have friends and people around him that loved and cared for him. And now he did.

"Seriously" said Sirius. "I really admire the way you reached out to him and helped him, and I am very surprised at him and still cannot figure out just why he came to you when I previously thought that he hated you"

Remus shrugged a little. "I don't know, I guess there's just a lot going on in his head at the moment and I completely understand how he feels. I will admit that I am a very random choice, though"

"Well, he said that there's more to everything than what he was willing to say right at that moment so perhaps we should allow things to run their course and see if he comes out with anything else, in his own time, of course" Sirius replied.

Remus nodded and snuggled in closer, his pink mouth folding into the perfect o as he yawned.

"Ready to sleep?"

"More than ready" Remus' lips twitched into a little smile as Sirius brushed their lips together once again and they curled in the corners.

"Goodnight, my beautiful Moony" Sirius breathed.

"Goodnight, my beautiful Sirius" Remus whispered back.

...

Tuesday passed by in a blur of school work, eating and vomiting for poor Remus. Although, he didn't mind too much.

Mulciber on the other hand was as quiet as a mouse, he went to his lessons but didn't make any sort of distraction or noise to draw attention and he barely even spoke to his friends despite sitting with them. It got the boys wondering, just who was he interested in?

When Wednesday came around, Remus was still hoping that James would talk to them.

"You shouldn't be the one to apologise, Moony" Sirius said quietly as they sat in the common room claiming their spot in front of the fire whilst James and Peter were sitting at the tables trying to do homework together which wasn't working out so well for James' half of the bargain.

"I know but I feel guilty and like I should say something to him" Remus said snuggling into Sirius a little further on the sofa. He was now becoming less shy about being more intimate with Sirius in public and was happy to cuddle on the sofa when people were around. Most people didn't make any sort of fuss about two boys being together, after all the Wizarding world was much more tolerant of such behaviour than the Muggle one.

"By all means speak to him but don't apologise or make like you feel bad for what happened because it wasn't your fault at all, Moony, and he needs to understand he can't get away with treating us like this" Sirius pointed out caressing the side of Remus' face tenderly.

"I know he can't and I know his behaviour is wrong" Remus whispered so James couldn't hear. "But I don't want him to hate us forever, we're supposed to be friends - the Marauders"

Sirius sighed, his mouth twisting rather awkwardly as he gazed into the fire. It took him a good few moments before he could actually say anything. "I'll support you if you do want to talk but I think that maybe if we do we'll have to tell him about your condition..." he said quickly.

Remus nodded slowly with his understanding. "I know we would, we wouldn't be able to try to resolve this so easily without telling him that we're expecting" he sighed softly. "But I really do not wish for him to know just yet, it feels too... personal and far too soon to tell anyone about our baby"

"I don't feel ready to tell him, he is undeserving to know right at this very moment in time" said Sirius. "I don't want someone like that in my child's life"

"I look forward to the day our daughter or son is born, maybe one day we'll have a house and some more money and nice things to give them and he or she will be spoiled and happy and showered with love, that's what I dream of" Remus breathed.

"If that's what you should so wish, I will make it happen no matter what" Sirius smiled warmly planting a sweet kiss on Remus' head.

Remus smiled and gazed up into his boyfriend's face. "I already love my baby, I know you love it too so there will be no shortage of that. I just would like to be sure I can give our baby things that I never got because of my Lycanthropy"

Sirius swallowed. "Don't worry, don't fret yourself and never stress, it isn't good for the baby. We will do our very best as parents, I will make sure I can get us some money in, I will be sure to set a good example and help and support you through everything. I know your hormones are making you scatty and feel unsure but not to worry, things will work out for the best in the end, just let things run their course with James and Peter"

Remus smiled warmly. "You know how grateful I am to you, James and Peter for accepting me and helping me through my transformations, right?"

Sirius nodded quickly and kissed Remus sweetly on the forehead. "We know how grateful you are, Moony, even if sometimes two of us do not show it"

Remus couldn't help but laugh.

...

It was shortly after lunch time, the free period had gone and they were now in their last lesson of the day.

They were in Defence and Remus was growing tired of the day wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed for a nap this evening, but he still had work to do.

"Sunday is the full moon" Remus pointed out quietly.

"Are you starting to feel unwell again?" Sirius asked, his head turning to the boy sharply with concern.

Remus nodded with a tiny sigh so small it never left his lips. "Just a bit tired, grumpy and peaky"

"You're looking pale but you don't look as bad as you do on some transformations" Sirius replied thoughtfully.

Remus shot him a look.

"Not that you look _bad _on them anyway, I merely meant that you are looking brighter, you normally look very sickly, not ugly" Sirius said quickly.

"Good save" Remus winked playfully. "Are you going to be with me?"

Sirius nodded very firmly. "Of course I will, don't fear that I would leave you" he said worriedly. "I don't like to see or hear of your suffering"

Remus smiled sweetly again, glanced in the direction of the teacher to make sure he wasn't looking before pressing a quick kiss on Sirius' cheek. Luckily they were sitting at the back of the classroom for once so there were no people behind them to tease or mock, the only way someone would have noticed their kiss is if they were looking directly at them.

When the lesson was over, they packed up their things and left.

"You know what I don't like? queers" Lily said loudly as she passed out of the room. "I don't think they should be in this school"

"Tell that to the headmaster" said Sirius, coolly.

Lily turned sharply on her heels to face Sirius, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. "I suppose you think you're funny, don't you, Black?"

Sirius let out a small chuckle and looked her up and down. "I don't _think_ I'm funny, I _know_ I am"

Remus looked down trying to shield his smirk. Lily glared at him.

"And what about your sad little boyfriend, where does he fit into all of this?" she said loudly again outside the classroom. A few people had stopped to gather and watch or loiter and pretend they weren't involved but were actually listening in. It was sad how this school seemed to run on drama rather than magic sometimes.

Sirius smiled to Remus and draped his arm around his lover's shoulder giving him a gentle squeeze of affection. "Remus need not make comments to a girl like you, he is better than that"

Lily stiffened. "He cannot possibly be better, he is a half-blood, he has Muggle in him!" she protested.

Sirius looked to her strangely. "But you're a Muggle-born"

"That's not what I mean" she said with a loud tut of impatience and a roll of her eyes. "I was suggesting that he cannot possibly believe that it's right for two men to be gay, Muggles don't believe in that behaviour and he is part-Muggle!"

Remus swallowed and looked down at the floor. "Actually, Lily, my parents are not the same as yours. My mother is a Muggle and she is very accepting of me" he said smoothly.

A few of the Slytherin's and Ravenclaws snickered around them but he didn't even bat an eyelid, they weren't worth the hassle even if their laughter stung. "I am not hurting anyone, I have committed no crimes, I am not a bad person therefore there is nothing wrong with what I am doing"

Lily's eyes narrowed again like two tiny, beads little insect eyes. She crossed her arms over her shoulder with James hovering behind her. It made Sirius sick to even look at him.

"It's not _natural_, though"

"It's natural for me, what about you, Remus?" Sirius said turning to look directly into his lover's face once again.

Remus did actually rather enjoy the inclusion of the events, however he did not enjoy all the fighting and the bitchiness. He had never been one for too much drama even if it did seem to follow him around like a bad smell.

"It feels completely natural to me, too" he smiled to his lover once again. "I have no romantic, physical or sexual attraction towards women" his voice might have been very small, and there may have been a bright red blush on his face from all the people staring at him, but he was honest and his words made a difference.

Lily glared to him once again. "You're both sick!"

"No, dear, you are the one that's sick" Sirius tutted shaking his head.

And with that, Lily walked off with James, Peter and her girl friends hot on her heels.

When they were gone, Sirius sighed and turned to Remus allowing the boy to drape his arms around his shoulders, still blushing.

"Are you okay after all of that?"

Remus nodded quickly.

"Not stressed at all?"

Remus shook his head.

"Good, because I don't want anything to distress you or our baby" Sirius breathed embracing Remus very warmly completely ignoring the people staring. He could see Mulciber standing a few feet away looking at them, his lips set in a line, his eyes worried and his brows furrowed. He knew the boy wasn't rejecting their relationship, but Sirius could tell he was wondering over whether or not it could be him like that.

Remus glanced to him and shot him a tiny smile.

"You ready to get an early dinner? I can see it in your face that you're tired" Sirius asked raising both eyebrows, their faces still so close.

Remus nodded quickly and felt Sirius' arm draping around his waist so he returned it and they headed down to the Great Hall together chatting happily about the days events.

...

Regulus Black was out wandering the corridors that same night. It was just after eight, the younger students were in bed and all of the wall torches were lit and burning brightly. He wasn't dressed in his uniform but he did wear some casual robes and a long, flowing black cloak to shield and heat himself with.

He'd been going through some stuff recently even if he'd been keeping it mostly private. His friends were beginning to talk more about joining forces with the Dark Lord and he had debated it with himself but knew that he wouldn't do it for at least another year, he was only fifteen years old and he had more on his mind than most boys (or girls) his age.

He rounded the corner and walked slowly along the next corridor, pulling his long cloak further around himself. If he were to look in the mirror right now, he would be positively drowned in his clothing.

"Good evening"

Regulus jumped and gasped, his eyes widening as he turned to the person standing peeking out from behind one of the long, draping tapestries. He furrowed his eyebrows slightly in confusion, his lips still parted.

"Don't look so startled, you're not the only one that likes going out for walks at night" Evan Rosier smiled again, his green eyes twinkling.

Regulus regained his composure and stared at him. "Did you come to meet me here?" he asked glancing up and down the corridor to make sure nobody was around. "You knew I was going to be walking tonight..."

Evan chuckled softly and held the tapestry back. "I see you're worried about something, someone showing up?"

Regulus said nothing.

"Come on in"

Regulus once again hesitated for a moment before he stepped under Evan's arm (which wasn't very difficult seeing as he was just over five feet tall so most people were taller than he was) Evan allowed the tapestry to drop and turned to face Regulus' back. The boy stood there gazing around the small room, it was almost the perfect square with a little wooden bench to sit on at one end, and two brightly burning wall torches.

"This is... cosy..." Regulus said turning around to look at Evan again. "How did you find this place?"

"Careful observation" the boy grinned flashing his white teeth. "I used to do a lot more walking than you do, I know some secret places around the castle"

"Oh really?" Regulus quirked an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Really" Evan nodded once with a chuckle and moved to sit on the bench. He patted the place beside him and Regulus perched himself down slowly, almost anxiously.

A few moments of silence passed between them, if a clock were hanging on the wall then Regulus was more than certain he would be able to hear it ticking. But there was nothing but silence for now.

"I've missed you" Evan smiled warmly to the boy, looking up through the draping of brunette hair hanging across his face.

Regulus found himself smiling back gently. "I missed you too"

Evan extended his arms to the boy and Regulus leaned in embracing him. They remained linked together for some time just holding one another before finally drawing back. Regulus shuffled in closer to sit against Evan.

"Are you still having problems?" Evan asked, his voice lower and slightly more serious than it was before.

Regulus sighed softly. "Yes" he breathed, hanging his head a little with the shame he felt. "They're still being horrible to me, hiding my stuff, making fun of me, whispering about me, spreading rumours, looking at me funny..." he said quietly.

Evan looked to the boy carefully for a few moments. "Did you start taking your medication?"

Regulus nodded slowly. "Started on it yesterday"

"Good" Evan breathed pulling Regulus in for another little hug, his eyes focusing on the back of the tapestry.

"Please don't tell anyone about what I did" Regulus whispered closing his eyes and burying his face in Evan's chest.

"You're lucky they never found out to begin with" Evan murmured. "In such a public dormitory, you were very lucky it was only me that came up there"

Regulus swallowed nervously.

"Are you still feeling... that way?"

Regulus shrugged a little. "I don't know, I guess that's maybe my medication kicking in. I feel strange"

"It's only for a little while" Evan said gently as he rocked the boy a little to settle him. "Madam Pomfrey is certain you will be okay again in your own time, very shortly"

"I hope so" said Regulus.

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me on Saturday? We could go in and have a few drinks and maybe get some sweets and come back, we don't need to tell the others, I don't believe they're going to go in this week" Evan said, his voice rising and becoming much perkier.

Regulus looked up into his face and smiled a little. "That might be fun"

"It will be nice to have some alone time together" Evan mused.

Regulus nodded slowly against his chest. "I've been looking forward to spending some time with you, just the two of us" he breathed. "Without me being in hospital, of course..."

Evan tried to smile but it faded before he could muster the strength for it. It had only been barely three days ago when it had happened, he could remember it so vividly and it wouldn't be something he could ever forget.

Regulus nestled into him closer with a soft sigh and Evan thought it best not to make another comment about what happened the other day, he would be better off and so would Regulus if he were to remain silent. The boy had done enough talking and crying for now and he needed his rest.

"I would say that I don't know where I'd be without you, Evan, but I actually do..." Regulus breathed swallowing the lump that appeared in his throat and closing his eyes.

Evan closing his eyes in a long slow blink forcing himself to remain calm, now wasn't the time to break down and cry, now was the time to be strong and help poor Regulus through his difficulties. "I'm going to be here for you, Regulus, you know that and you know how I feel"

Regulus looked up at him and smiled gently. "You know how I feel, also"

...

Thursday came around and Remus woke up and had to run to the bathroom to vomit. He wasn't as sick as he usually was and it was only a few small dry heaves before he was washing up and heading back to his bed and curl in beside Sirius and return to sleep.

"Were you puking, Moony?" Sirius asked so sleepily his eyes weren't open and his lips barely moving.

Remus thought it was absolutely adorable and smiled to him. "No, just a little heaving"

Sirius nodded slowly and pulled Remus in closer so they were flush together. Remus found himself blushing but soon relaxed into it knowing that Sirius wasn't planning to do anything inappropriate to him right now.

"Can we go back to sleep for a while?" Remus mumbled closing his eyes and slumping into the bedding.

"Mm, yeah we've got about an hour before we need to be up yet" Sirius said lazily and kissed Remus' forehead.

Remus emitted another soft, sleepy sigh and when Sirius glanced back at him, Remus was already fast asleep once again.

When they did actually get up and start getting dressed, Remus was in a much better mood thanks to his stomach being somewhat more settled today. Sirius slipped behind him when James and Peter left the room banging the door shut behind them, it was clear they weren't over yesterday even though neither Sirius nor Remus actually targetted them in any way. It must have been Lily's doing...

A soft pair of hands came to rest on Remus' tummy slipping just under his clean shirt, he jumped a little with surprise but looked back over his shoulder and smiled to Sirius very lovingly laying his hands gently atop of his lover's over his bump.

"You're a little bigger today" Sirius breathed into his ear. "I see your tummy getting full"

Remus's smile broadened. "Our baby is growing inside of me all thanks to the beauty of magic, your sperm and pure luck"

Sirius chuckled lowly. "It was obviously mean to be, look at it that way"

"I always do" Remus whispered softly closing his eyes.

...

First lessons passed smoothly with just the droning on of the lectures, there were no dirty looks, no nasty comments and not a single fight to be had as they breezed through their breaktime.

On their way to lessons, Sirius and Remus passed by Evan Rosier whom was standing talking quietly and quickly to Regulus Black. Sirius caught his eye and Regulus looked away almost immediately, his face pale and he looked rather dismal as though a dark rain cloud had been looming over him for the past few weeks.

Sirius frowned a little and paused to stop but Evan didn't stop talking so he continued on walking.

"He doesn't look very well" Remus commented when they were finally seated in History of Magic that same morning.

"I know he doesn't" said Sirius, his silver eyes wandering over to where Evan sat, tensed and worried-looking. "And he looks guilty" he whispered nodding over to where the Slytherin sat.

Remus' eyeline followed after him and he pursed his lips, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment. "I think there's something going on with Regulus, Evan looks fine"

"Indeed he does" Sirius muttered still observing the boy. Most of his friends around him were dozing off; Snape sat taking some notes trying to blink himself awake, Avery had his forehead on his arms snoozing, Mulciber had his chin on a hand beside Avery, his eyes barely open and Evan sat there awake but not taking notes, just staring with his eyebrows furrowed and Sirius seriously doubted the conversation of the laws of troll mating were not something to look that worried about right now.

"Maybe we should talk to Regulus" Remus said in a low voice. "I know he seemed like he didn't want to talk but we should try..."

"We'll get him at the right moment but I highly doubt that any bratty little pure-blood problem my brother is going through is going to be anything more serious than who spilled elf made wine on his best dress robes" Sirius rolled his eyes. "He's very precious that way, you know"

Remus just smiled weakly and nodded with understanding. He actually didn't understand the behaviour of some of the more bratty, spoiled little rich pure-blood kids at school, well, he sort of could seeing as they'd been given everything, showered with love, praise, gifts and money and would never be used to not having everything their own way. Remus had been spoiled with love and affection but he didn't have too much money or expensive gifts the same way those kids had, they'd been given riches and a lifetime of security and prospects purely because of the name they carried and although Remus' father had been famous himself and had earned money, he'd given a lot of what he had job wise up to protect his only son.

...

At lunch time the two boys ate quickly and had originally planned to go for a nice walk in the grounds until it had started tippling down with rain. So instead they decided to head on up to the library where it was always warm and despite the weather, there would be plenty of seats. Most people preferred to hang about near the front of the library, in the toilets of their common rooms.

"I am actually starting to like it in here a little bit more now" Sirius smiled as he watched Remus stacking up their text books on the desk so it looked as though they were working if anyone should come past. Students loitering would usually just be thrown out, it was a place of study, not a place for gossip, or so Sirius had been told in previous years.

Remus grinned. "I knew you would given half a chance, I see no reason why one can't love the library with the fascinating old books, the smells, the paper, the knowledge stored on every shelf just waiting to be discovered" he spoke almost dreamily, his eyes glistening with excitement.

Sirius grinned to Remus in amusement, his own eyes twinkling curiously.

Remus blushed.

"You sound like a Ravenclaw" Sirius laughed.

Remus blushed a little bit more. "I just really love books, I've grown up with them and they excite me. Wow, I really do sound like a little old man..." he breathed.

"It's adorable" Sirius mused again staring at Remus in amazement. "You're so cute, did anyone ever tell you that?"

Remus was blushing all the more, he opened and closed his mouth several times before deciding it was best to hug Sirius and hide his awkward embarrassment.

"Aww, you're even cuter when you're all shy!" Sirius beamed.

"M'not shy"

"Moony, seriously, if you get ANY cuter I may just have to squeal like a little girl on Christmas morning" Sirius laughed.

Remus pulled back and batted his boyfriend on the arm. "You're so funny and silly sometimes"

"Don't you love that about me?"

"You know I find it..." Remus found himself blushing further.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow smirking. "Find it, what?"

Remus pursed his lips a little and averted his eyes shyly. "Charming..."

Sirius was beaming his pearly white teeth flashing and his eyes glimmering. "I love you"

"I love you too" Remus smiled finally looking to Sirius' face.

The boy took his hands gently and kissed his lips.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything..."

Sirius and Remus drew back, hands still linked to turn and face Mulciber in surprise.

"Oh, no problem" said Remus. "What's going on?"

Mulciber was quiet for a moment, he glanced up and down to check nobody was watching before he stepped closer to them. "I wanted to come and talk to you both" he said again, slowly. "I-I've been thinking about what you said about, you know, and I've decided that maybe I should think about... telling him" he swallowed anxiously looking between the two boys.

Surprised washed over both of their faces.

"That's really amazing" Remus said quietly. "I think it would be good if you did, it would certainly be very brave of you"

"You talk as though he probably won't like me back" Mulciber said smoothly.

"No, not at all" Remus said quickly, his eyes widening as he shook his head. "Please don't think I meant wrong by it, I was merely saying that I think it's wonderful you've decided to go for it. When are you going to ask him out?"

Mulciber swallowed nervously. "I don't know, maybe tomorrow? Or in a few days?"

"Whenever you feel ready" said Sirius. He felt strange being so kind to the boy but for the sake of arguments with the Slytherin, he was going to keep his comments to himself. And for the sake of Remus whom seemed delighted they were finally getting along.

"And what if he says no?" Mulciber asked warily.

Remus smiled again. "If he does then that's the worst he can say, the worst thing he can say when you ask him to be yours is no. It's not the end of the world, it doesn't mean that nobody will love you, it doesn't mean you can't even try asking him out again"

"I don't want to embarrass myself or feel like a pillock"

"You won't if you don't let yourself" said Sirius. "It's hard confessing to someone you care for them regardless, just don't let it ruin you if things don't go the way you want them to"

Mulciber was quiet for a moment before he nodded. "Logically I know you are right, but emotionally I fear being rejected just as much as the next guy"

"We all fear rejection" said Sirius. "It's those of us that are brave enough to stand up to it that succeed"

Mulciber was rather shocked at the boy's reaction, he had never put Sirius down as the type of person to think of that. "All of those rumours..." he breathed, unaware he had actually spoken his thoughts out loud.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, yes, I know, I'm a shocking person because I don't live up to all my naughty rumours" he rolled his eyes playfully.

Mulciber blinked and continued to stare. "Oh" he said looking to Remus. "Ohh... of course..."

"Sirius hasn't been messing around with anyone else" said Remus, softly.

"It surprises me a little but then again, usually the good things are surprising" Mulciber smiled a little. "I must go, I have very little time, my friends think I went to speak to McGonagall about my homework and if they see her out and about with me..."

"They'll curse you?" Sirius finished.

"No, they'll put me under interrogation and assume it's a woman so that would kind of spoil my chances..." he said turning to leave.

"Will you at least tell us who it is?" Remus asked quickly, stopping the boy in his tracks.

Mulciber hesitated for another few seconds. Slowly, very slowly, he turned around to face them both with a peculiar look on his face. "Remus?"

Remus looked to him nervously.

"There's something I really should tell you..." he said slowly, his eyes dropping to the floor. "And I have been meaning to tell you all this time, it's why I've been following you, I've learned so much and..."

Remus stared.

Mulciber made his way over to them and sat down beside Remus looking him straight in the eye. "I have been waiting for just the right moment to tell you..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." said Sirius waving his hands up in the air. "If you're going to tell my boyfriend you're in love with him-"

"It's not that" Mulciber said quickly, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head, his hair didn't move it was gelled back so precisely framing the perfect heart of his face.

Sirius sighed and looked to him in confusion. "Then what is it?"

Remus wasn't sure how Sirius was feeling but his own heart had picked up in his chest, he felt that crawl of nerves creeping over his skin, the hairs on the back of his neck prickles as he looked to Mulciber with wide, worried eyes, his lips parted ever so slightly. "Wha-"

"Remus..."

Remus swallowed anxiously.

Mulciber looked him directly in the eye, his pink tongue darting out to moisten his lips. "You're my brother..."

...


	5. Chapter 5

A pang of sickening horror struck Remus and several things happened at once. His mouth fell open, his eyes widened dramatically and a sudden sensation of nausea washed over him. He was awestruck, completely and utterly awestruck as he sat staring into Mulciber's face. He had no strength in him, it was as though he had lost all ability to move, to speak, to even think.

Mulciber just sat staring right back with worried eyes, eyes that when Remus looked closer, were not so different from his own. He could see the fear in his eyes, the strain it had taken, the nerves and courage battling it out until finally one overcame the other and he'd uttered the words he'd been fearing to say. The words that Remus had never in his left expected to hear. _I'm your brother._

After a few minutes passed, Remus' mouth began to move and he gasped in a deep breath. "H-how...?"

Mulciber swallowed and looked down at his lap. "I've never told anyone about this besides my best friend, he's the only one that knows I was adopted as a baby..."

"But how could you and Remus possibly be related? You're in the same year, you're both- how old are you?" Sirius frowned in confusion leaning a little closer to the boy.

"Seventeen" Mulciber said quietly.

"But I'm seventeen in March, I know it's a few months different but it's not long enough for us to be related" Remus blurted out. "How is that even possible?" he whispered shaking his head in confusion.

"I don't know" Mulciber said quietly. "But it is. W-we should get a DNA test done just to be one hundred percent certain of this... but I am close enough to it that you're my brother..."

"Of course we will" Remus said rather quickly, yet he still furrowed his eyebrows. "What I don't understand is why you suspect it to be me?"

Mulciber swallowed once again, waves of emotion were washing over him. He felt like he was being put on the spot, he knew this would happen and he could accept that. He had to explain the story, there was so much to tell, so many things to get through...

Taking a deep breath he fidgeted in his chair for a moment before he said "I was adopted when I was a few days old from a couple that were, at the time, unable to keep me" he began. "They were married when I was born and had been for a few months but their circumstances were not so great so they were unable to keep me. So they gave me away and I've been living with my adoptive parents ever since" he said. His eyes flickered between the two of them from Sirius' shocked face to Remus' devastated one.

"Do you by any chance know the names of the people that gave you away?" Sirius asked gently, he could see Remus so wanted to ask some questions but looked as though he couldn't quite get them out.

"Yes" Mulciber breathed. "Lyall and Hope"

Remus exhaled a sharp breath and closed his eyes in a long slow blink. He felt dizzy as though he may faint. He felt Sirius' arms slip around him gently holding him in place and he swallowed trying to regain his composure. "Lyall and Hope are the names of my parents..."

"Possibly _our _parents" Mulciber said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"So where can we get a DNA done?" Remus asked quickly, his eyes opened and he looked into his potential brother's face.

"I've already sorted a place" said Mulciber. "I've spoken with the nurse and she's willing to perform one. I asked her, I didn't give names, but I asked if she was qualified to do that and she said yes any time if I should need one done to test a person to be my brother then she will do it"

Remus swallowed and nodded exhaling slowly. "I want to do one"

"Are you sure it's safe, Remus?" Sirius asked quickly gently touching his lover on the shoulder.

Remus looked worriedly to him, he knew that Sirius was talking about the baby.

Mulciber frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged nervous looks. "How do they perform these tests?" Sirius asked quickly.

"They just draw a little bit of blood from your arm and swab some saliva from your mouth, check it and tell you if you're related or not" Mulciber explained.

"Oh, that should be okay then" Sirius spoke to Remus again. "That won't hurt anything"

"Yeah, we can always ask Madam Pomfrey when we go if it's safe..." Remus said back rather quietly.

Mulciber furrowed his eyebrows. "Is there something going on here that you're not telling me?"

Remus hesitated a moment. "There _is_ something going on, it's nothing to be concerned about, we're both okay but it is very important and very personal..." he said slowly.

Mulciber nodded, his eyes moving from Sirius to Remus and back again.

Sirius looked to Remus and Remus stared right back as though having a silent conversation between them. Smiles crossed over their faces and Remus turned back to Mulciber. "We will tell you provided you swear to keep this a secret, we cannot have anyone else knowing just yet, we're not ready for that kind of stuff"

Mulciber looked to him very curiously studying his face for a moment before he nodded. "You have my word"

Remus stared at him for a moment, a smile curling in the corners of his mouth. "Sirius and I are..." his cheeks began to glow with happiness as he looked back to Sirius again whom was also grinning excitedly. "We're going to have a baby..."

Mulciber blinked. "Like, adoption?"

"No" Sirius chuckled. "Remus is expecting" he spoke softly, his eyes twinkling.

Mulciber continued to stare, his eyebrows ruffling in confusion as he looked back to Remus again. His lips parted as though to speak but Remus got in there first.

"I'm _expecting_" he said slowly his eyes flickering down to hit tummy. Sirius' hands snaked around him and rested gently on his growing bump.

It took Mulciber a good few moments to realise what was actually being said, he sat there staring and then it washed over him. At first it was realisation, then it turned to shock, then confusion.

"How could you-"

"At the start of the year we usually have a sort of party up in Gryffindor to welcome our new school year in and wish everyone luck so we're all back in each other's good books for the new term. Remus and I had a little too much alcohol, we went upstairs, things happened and he drank a potion named the Trenceptous potion which created an extra little opening behind his..." Sirius gestured to Remus' crotch. "And before you ask, yes, he is biologically male and always will be"

Mulciber closed his mouth and continued to stare at Sirius.

"Anyway, the entrance was supposed to disappear within a few short days but it didn't and time passed, Remus found out that he's carrying my baby" Sirius explained with a smile. "It's rare for it to happen but it has and now we're going to have a baby together" his eyes were twinkling, his cheeks were glowing and his beaming smile was enough to radiate the entire library in a blinding light.

Mulciber's mouth fell open, he stared at Sirius and his eyes flicked to Remus again. "You're pregnant?" he breathed in disbelief.

Remus blushed and nodded, he glanced back down to his tummy where Sirius' hands were still resting on it gently.

"Merlin!" Mulciber gasped, his eyes widening dramatically. "I-I can't believe this..."

"Well believe it and please keep it to yourself" Remus winced a little sinking his teeth into his bottom lip.

"Don't worry I'm not going to tell anyone, I trusted you with my personal stuff so you can trust me" he smiled a little. "Brother"

Remus found himself smiling back. He checked the time on his pocket watch. "Lessons soon"

"We should go then" Mulciber said quickly gathering up his bag.

"Where?" Sirius blinked, confused.

"To the nurse" Mulciber said again. "We should go and get our test done and be absolutely certain. Don't you want to find out if we're actually brothers or not?"

"Of course I do" Remus gasped, his blue eyes widening.

"Well then, come on!" Mulciber said hurriedly.

Remus looked back to Sirius whom nodded once. They got to their feet, shoved their books haphazardly into their bags and followed Mulciber out of the library.

Remus could see that the boy was a little strained as he walked out glancing up and down hoping that none of his friends were around.

"I hope that when you find out if he is your brother you'll be a little less ashamed of people seeing you with him" Sirius said, coolly.

Mulciber tensed. "That's not it"

"Then why are you acting sketchy like you don't want anyone to see you out with us" Sirius said quickly.

Mulciber sighed. "I know you understand what it's like to be a pure-blood, but what you don't understand is what it's like to be a pure-blood in Slytherin..."

"But you're not-"

"I know that there is pretty much no chance of me being a pure-blood but I don't think I should tell my friends that..." he said slowly not looking at either of the other boys.

Remus stared. "So you don't want people to know that you might have a brother?" he sounded hurt.

"It's not that" Mulciber said shaking his head. "It's just, I'm worried of what they might say or do to me when they find out"

"You said you told your best friend that you were adopted, surely he knows that you may not be a half-blood" Sirius quirked an eyebrow as they headed along the hospital wing corridor together.

Mulciber shrugged a little. "That's one thing I fear will happen if I find out we're brothers because I know you're a half-blood and I don't want him to think of me as beneath him..." his eyes dropped to the floor as they continued to walk. Shame washed over him in waves. He couldn't blame himself, he couldn't blame his friends and he couldn't blame Remus. The only people to blame were his adoptive parents for raising him as a pure-blood all these years when in actual fact, he may not be.

Remus stared at him for a moment and suddenly stopped walking. "Oh my god..." he breathed.

Sirius frowned and stopped to look at Remus with concern. Mulciber also stopped walking and looked to Remus shyly.

"It's Avery..." he breathed. "You're in love with Avery!" he gasped, his eyes widening once again.

Mulciber's cheeks turned bright red and he looked away chewing anxiously on his bottom lip. Sirius' head turned sharp to the boy and he searched his face rather quickly.

"H-how did you know?" he asked looking worriedly from Remus to Sirius and back again.

"You only told your best friend about the adoption, you're in love with a friend, you fear that you won't be treated the same if you turn out to be my brother because your best friend may not see you the same way. I'm certain you love him" Remus spoke softly.

Mulciber swallowed and nodded slowly, tears welling in his green-blue eyes.

Remus felt a wave of sympathy wash over him, he wasn't entirely sure why he felt sympathetic but he also felt tears prickling in the backs of his own eyes as he stepped forward and embraced the boy gently. He felt Mulciber tense a little (probably because they were out in public like that) but he still hugged Remus back a little.

"Please don't cry because I'm really hormonal and it'll make me cry" Remus sniffed.

Mulciber pulled back with a laugh and wiped his own eyes looking down into Remus'. "Don't cry, I didn't mean to make anyone cry"

"I know you didn't" Remus smiled sniffing a little more trying to calm himself down. "But I cry over everything at the moment"

Mulciber emitted another small laugh.

"How about we go in and get you both tested?" Sirius suggested gently taking Remus by the hand once again.

Remus smiled up to his boyfriend and nodded so the three of them turned and headed into the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey was alone today which was a surprise seeing as it was close to the end of the week so there had been plenty of opportunities for people to get injured or sick or any other mild ailment that should befall the students.

She looked up when they entered and blinked at them, her eyes went immediately to Remus and she swept over looking as though she were ready for action. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes" Remus said quickly looking immediately to Mulciber.

Mulciber swallowed. "You know when I came in to ask about DNA testing?"

The woman nodded once with her firm understanding, her grey eyes studying the boy closely.

"Well... I'm ready to have one done" he said quickly. "On Remus... if that's okay..."

Madame Pomfrey looked from Mulciber to Remus and back again. "Well, I can certainly see a resemblence in you both" she smiled sweetly. "Make yourselves comfortable and I will take some blood and saliva now and have the results by the end of the day"

Remus exhaled a shaky breath and hopped up on the edge of the nearest bed. Sirius moved to sit down beside him and Mulciber jumped up on the bed opposite watching the nurse spelling her hands thoroughly clean and casting _Accio_ for some supplies.

"Is this safe considering Remus is... pregnant" Sirius said looking to the nurse and raising his eyebrows at her.

"Yes it's fine, I'll only draw a little bit of blood and swab his mouth. It's perfectly safe to have blood tests done during pregnancy and sometimes nurses will ask for them to be done. Remus currently has no reason to be concerned for the baby's health so I wouldn't give him one because of the baby" she explained gesturing with her hands for extra emphasis. "Now, who would like to go first?"

"I will" said Mulciber shrugging off his cloak and unbuttoning the cuff of his crisp, white shirt to roll it back revealing his arm.

The nurse stepped forward, dabbing the area clean, and Remus closed his eyes as she carefully sank the needle into his skin drawing some blood out. Sirius on the other hand, could look at it just fine.

Mulciber sighed softly when she pulled the needle out and gave him a little cotton bud to hold against it as she labelled her little pot and placed it down in its own tray. Mulciber continued to watch her nervously as she opened the packaging for a swab and then gestured for him to open his mouth. He did as he was told and she slipped the cotton bud in swirling it around thoroughly before locking it into a tube, labelling it and placing it down in the tray.

"Your turn next, Mr Lupin" she said removing her latex gloves, spelling her hands clean and snapping on a fresh pair. Remus flinched as she picked up the second metal tray filled with all new, sterile equipment.

Hesitantly, Remus rolled up his sleeve closing his eyes as the nurse dabbed the area clean and uncapped the needle. A small noise escaped his throat as he felt the needle sink in but Sirius clutched at his other hand supportively giving it a little tiny squeeze.

It was over as quickly as it started and the needle slipped out and the nurse handed him a little ball to hold against it. Remus had always disliked needles since he was a child having not had much experience with them and any small experience he had they'd really hurt him but this wasn't too bad. He opened his eyes as she lifted the swab and slipped it into his mouth - this part didn't hurt at all.

Thankfully when she was all done, Remus put a tiny round plaster coated in a special, yellow potion that would very rapidly heal his cut over his pin prick where the needle went in (like Mulciber did) and exhaled slowly.

"All done" said the nurse lifting up both trays. "I'll have the results ready by the end of the day so if you pop back then we'll know"

"Okay, thank you" Remus breathed. He felt so many emotions right now, sick, confused, lost, upset, angry, worried, scared but most of all, he felt hopeful and happy at the prospect of having a brother.

They got up and left the hospital wing feeling dazed and silent.

"I suppose we had ought to get to Charms" Mulciber swallowed nervously. "I'll go on ahead and we'll meet back here after last period, okay?"

"Okay" Sirius nodded slowly, draping an arm around Remus' shoulders to support him. "We shall see you in a little while"

Mulciber smiled to them weakly before he turned and headed down the corridor. The two boys gave it a minute or two before they started pressing on to their lessons.

...

They walked in silence to Charms and when they went inside and took their seats (very nearly late)

Remus glanced over to where Mulciber was sitting beside Avery talking quietly with him.

"I feel sort bad for him" Sirius whispered as they set to work casting their charms for the lesson trying to turn a goblet full of bitter vinegar into wine. "He's going through a lot at the moment and I know for a fact that Avery is definitely a pure-blood"

"So you think if he does ask him out then he'll say no?" Remus asked worriedly.

Sirius swallowed. "Yes I do think that but then again it does depend purely on whether or not Avery feels that strongly about his purity and of course whether or not he's gay..."

"Have you ever seen him with another man?" Remus asked, furrowing his eyebrows worriedly.

"No, but I have also never seen him with a woman, either" Sirius pointed out. "I don't know if that means anything but Mulciber doesn't seem to think that Avery is definitely homosexual"

Remus pursed his lips and rested his wand down on the desk watching Sirius take another turn. "I would so hate for him to be rejected, I know we haven't gotten along in the past but I feel attached to him now he might be my brother"

"I know, you're so compassionate" Sirius said softly as he gently brushed the hairs from Remus' eyes holding them back a moment. "You know, you do kind of look alike"

Remus smiled gently. "I'll take that as a compliment, he's not exactly ugly"

"No he isn't but before you start to fret, I am only attracted to you" Sirius smiled warmly. "And I would kiss you right now if Snape and Rosier weren't sitting there staring at us waiting to find some reason to tell Flitwick" his lips curled back into a bright, happy grin.

Remus' eyes flicked past Sirius just for a moment long enough to see the two boys staring at them, Snape with his black eyes narrowed to suspicious slits and Rosier just watching with a close to blank expression on his face. Remus chuckled softly. "Indeed they are"

"On a more serious note" Sirius began. "How do you feel at the prospect of having a brother?"

Remus was thoughtfully silent for a few moments pondering on what was happening. "I feel excited, I feel happy, but I also feel very confused, lost and slightly betrayed by my parents for not telling me. You know, if he is actually my brother..."

Sirius nodded slowly with understanding.

"I have so many questions for everyone, I don't even know if I will get to ask them because it may turn out that he's not my brother after all" Remus said, his eyes dropping to the table rather sadly. "I would be somewhat disappointed if he's not my brother, I always wanted to have one..."

Sirius shot him a sympathetic smile, his eyebrows furrowing. "I really do think he will be your brother, you do look alike and your parents names match and everything..." he said slowly. "But try not to get your hopes up too high just in case"

Remus smiled a little to his boyfriend. "I'm really pleased you're helping and supporting me through this, it's not what I expected to have happen to me today when I woke up this morning"

Sirius chuckled softly. "Is it the pleasant sort of surprise?"

"Actually, yes it is" Remus smiled again. "Not just for me but also for our baby" his voice dropped lower so nobody else could eavesdrop on them. "I would love to have some more family members around our baby, an uncle would be excellent for him or her" his eyes twinkled softly with excitement.

"I do wonder how things will change between us and the Slytherin's when people find out, you know, if you turn out to be related" Sirius pointed out.

Remus sighed. "I know, but I think it will be okay" he smiled gently.

"Always so optimistic" Sirius smiled very warmly.

Remus found himself smiling back and reached over to clutch at Sirius' hand.

...

Defence was the last lesson of the day and Remus sat there on edge the whole time. He could see Mulciber sitting several rows ahead and to the right of them with his head down apparently reading but his eyes never moved across the pages.

Remus was growing a little nervous as the seconds ticked by like hours, he'd never had a brother before. Would he have one now?

Sirius could see that Remus was falling deeper into his thoughts about this matter, he was nervous too and he hoped that the boy would get the result he was after. He knew that Remus wasn't feeling one hundred percent at the moment with the approaching full moon, his pregnancy hormones and this suddenly thrust upon him. It was as though this school year was determined to make things dramatic and rather more difficult for them than usual. He could understand Remus feeling a little off the poor boy just needed time to settle and after Sunday things would definitely be better, well, they may well be today if it turned out that Mulciber was his brother after all. If he was then Remus would have rather a lot of questions to ask his parents...

...

"And don't forget your homework!" the teacher called as the students began shuffling desperately to pack their things away at the end of the lesson. "I want you all to practice using non-verbal magic even if you can do it to some degree already, you can never have too much practice and I shall know next week if you've done it or not!"

Remus swallowed and glanced across the room to where Mulciber was pushing his books slowly into his back and saying something to his friends whom were all gathered around him watching him rather curiously.

"I believe he's making some sort of excuse to come and see us" Sirius said quietly as they slung their leather satchels over their shoulders.

"Mm" Remus nodded once and headed out of the classroom with Sirius trying not to look at the Slytherin boy, the last thing he wanted was to draw attention to the three of them and Mulciber get into trouble with those friends of his.

Remus and Sirius walked to the hospital wing in silence holding hands. Students were bustling up and down the corridors, some glancing at them, some full-blown staring and others completely ignoring them. Neither of them paid any attention either way, their minds were swirling with thoughts.

What would happen?

Would they really be related?

What happened if they were?

How would this change both of their lives?

What if they weren't?

What if this was all some giant, horrible hoax?

Remus swallowed nervously and looked up to Sirius in surprise when they stopped walking.

"We're here" Sirius breathed. "Don't look so frightened"

Remus nodded slowly, he could feel his face draining of colour. He didn't feel distressed or too anxious, instead he felt somewhat edgy. He truly did want to know what was going on but they had to wait for the Slytherin to arrive - his potential brother.

"Even if the test comes back that you're unrelated things will be okay, it won't really change anything between any of us..." Sirius spoke soothingly.

"I know but this whole thing has been pretty dramatic and... shocking to say the least. I have had precious little time to think things over my mind is still reeling from it all, I cannot get past the replay of what happened in the library this afternoon it was barely a few hours ago..." Remus said quietly.

"It's going to be okay, Moony" Sirius spoke softly resting their foreheads together and closing his eyes. "You'll see..."

"Hi" Mulciber's voice made both of their eyes open quickly, they blinked and looked to him. Remus swallowed again, nerves washed over him at last.

"Hello" Sirius nodded, smiling weakly. "Managed to get away from your friends then?"

"Yeah, told them I had some work to hand in" Mulciber shrugged a little. "They're not suspicious of me, I get good grades and they know I study"

Sirius swallowed and nodded slowly.

A moment's silence passed between them.

"A-are you ready to go in?" Remus asked raising both eyebrows, he still looked nervous and his heart was fluttering in his chest like a little butterfly but he knew he had to be strong, calm and confident.

Mulciber was quiet for a moment before he smiled graciously. "Yes, I'm ready"

And with that the three boys took their deep breaths and stepped forth into the hospital wing.

...

Regulus left his lesson quietly, alone and headed straight for the common room. He'd just had Potions so it could get a little chilly down in the dungeons sometimes- or so he thought. He muttered the password and flew in heading straight for the sofas plonking himself down in the best spot he sat there toasting himself by the fire.

It was still only Thursday which meant two more days before he could go to Hogsmeade with Evan and relax and maybe even have a little fun. His life was a bit of a wreck at the moment and he knew that, he wasn't stupid and Evan had been there for him before any of this had even happened. Over time he'd grown closer to the boy and cared for him very deeply now. Of course they'd talked it over, they both knew how they felt and from that things stemmed and grew like a beautiful flower, but Regulus had still struggled. Now he was on his medication and he wasn't certain but he thought maybe it was helping him a little already even though he hadn't really been on it very long (two days, almost)

He didn't actually want to think about what happened, the nurse had told him it wasn't good for him to keep things bottled up or try to suppress things and if he wouldn't talk to her or allow her to contact his family then he should talk to Evan or another close friend whom he could trust. He had been talking to Evan, actually, but he still felt very open when he did so, very exposed and vulnerable. And who would blame him?

He trusted Evan and that was all that mattered to him right now.

"Hey" Evan's voice actually startled him and he jumped. Evan's green eyes widened. "Oh no, please don't be frightened it's only me" he said quickly sinking down beside the boy. "I didn't mean to startle you, Regulus"

"It's okay" the spoke spoke softly, relaxing. "I just came here to warm up a little"

"Potions was it?"

"Yes"

"Ah, the dungeons can be rather cold if Slughorn doesn't light the large cauldron up front, uses it as a heater most days" Evan nodded slowly.

"I know but because we were brewing today and he was all wrapped up he didn't see it necessary to light it up" Regulus replied.

Evan smiled to him gently. "Do you want to grab some dinner soon?"

"That would be lovely" Regulus smiled gently. "Are we still on for Saturday?"

"Of course we are!" Evan grinned to him. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, a thousand rampaging Hippogriff's couldn't keep me away"

Regulus started to laugh, a real laugh.

Evan looked to him, his eyes twinkling. "You seem happier today"

Regulus gave a small shrug. "I guess things are just looking up today, I mean, they couldn't have really gotten worse than they were, could they?"

Evan smiled and shook his head. "I'm just glad you're okay now"

"Me too..." Regulus breathed turning his gaze back to the fireplace.

...

When Remus, Sirius and Mulciber made their way into the hospital wing, emotions were running high and Remus was gripping Sirius' hand in his own sweaty palm. Now he really did feel nervous.

"Good afternoon" Madam Pomfrey smiled to them as they moved further in to see her. It was still surprisingly empty in there but nevertheless, that wasn't very important right now.

"Do you have the results?" Mulciber asked, his eyebrows furrowing upwards, his eyes filled with something like pleading. Remus could instantly tell he was frightened, it hadn't quite occurred to him just how Mulciber would be feeling right now, he could be gaining his first blood family member in his entire life. He'd never met his biological parents so this really was a landmark in his life, this test was extremely important it could either bring him up or crush him like a bug.

"Yes" the woman said quietly straightening herself up to look at them. "You may want to sit down..."

Remus swallowed. He couldn't read her face, she was so calm, so smooth, there was nothing indicating good or bad. He sat up on the bed with Sirius on one side and Mulciber on the other all looking to her with worried, frightened faces.

"Now, I've ran extensive and thorough tests on the blood and saliva samples and the results came back absolute each of the three times I tested" she spoke slowly.

Mulciber was shaking, he'd never been so afraid in all of his life. If he felt nervous telling them he was in love, he was gay or they may be brothers, it was nothing compared to what he'd exposed himself to right now. The anger, the fear, the heartbreak, the emotions in general whether they were to be good or bad. These results could literally change his life forever and they would mean so much more to him than just a few silly words uttered from the mouth of a Matron...

Sirius sank his teeth into his bottom lip. He hoped for Moony's sake it was the result he wanted, he hoped it would be good and he did hope that both of the boys would be pleased with whatever it was the nurse had to say to them...

"The results of the test are that Remus... he IS your biological full-blood brother" The nurse spoke, her lips curling into the warmest of smiles which did in fact touch her eyes. The sort of smile they had never seen from her before.

Remus' lips parted in a gasp, his eyes widened and he felt an intensive wave of emotions wash over him. Somany emotions he could not place his finger on a single one of them. The waves kept washing over and he blinked very slowly, frozen in place.

He could hear Mulciber gasping beside him, the boy leaning forward a little with his hands jammed between his knees. And Sirius, oh Sirius dropped his head back exhaling with relief. Or at least Remus thought - hoped - it was relief.

Remus turned to stare at his brother, tears filling his eyes as his heart swelled within his chest. Another gasp caught in his throat followed by a delighted squeal and before anyone could anticipate it he flung his arms around Mulciber hugging him tightly and pulling him back against the bedding together.

Mulciber let out a playful laugh, tears streaming down his cheeks. He was smiling, he was happy about all of this.

"We're brothers!" Remus squeaked out in delight hugging the boy against him, tangling them together in a friendly manner. "I have a big brother!"

"And I have a little brother!" Mulciber beamed.

Sirius smiled at them, a true smile of happiness. Remus had found some family, a member of his blood family whom would grow to care for him and love him, hopefully despite his slight problem upon the rising of the full moon.

He felt the tears prickling in his own eyes as he watched them laying there together laughing and hugging like they'd been best friends for years rather than brothers in a matter of seconds.

"It's wonderful to see a family reunited" the nurse smiled to Sirius. "Is it not?"

"Well actually they've never known anything about this until today, well Remus' didn't, I can't speak for Mulciber..." Sirius replied to her without taking his eyes off of the obviously ecstatic boys.

"Oh, Merlin!" Mulciber gasped sitting up a little to look down until Remus' face. "This also means that I have a little niece or nephew in there!"

"Yes, it does!" Remus beamed. "We don't know what the sex is yet though because it's still too early"

"How far along actually are you?" Mulciber asked, his eyes twinkling. He was obviously still in the excitement stage before any of the negative emotions had hit him yet.

"Twelve weeks" Remus smiled. "Three months so we have the green light that everything is fine with the baby"

"I'm glad to hear it" Mulciber smiled a little. "I just... I can't believe this has happened..." he breathed. "I have a brother and a niece all the space of about two seconds"

Sirius chuckled. "You now also know who your biological parents are" he pointed out.

"That's true... but I don't actually _know _them" Mulciber swallowed, his eyes dropping to the white bed covers.

"Then come and meet them whenever you are ready" Remus said softly sitting himself up to look into his brother's face. "They've invited Sirius and I round for dinner a week tomorrow, I'd be happy to ask them to set another place for you"

"Isn't that a little bit intrusive?" Mulciber furrowed his eyebrows with concern.

Remus chuckled and shook his head. "They honestly won't mind, I'll tell them I'm having a friend over. They are very hospitable people and we can talk about it all then, I have many questions to ask them myself" his eyes lowered to the bed covers. "I don't understand why they would keep something like this from me, I really thought they loved me..."

"They do love you, Remus" said Sirius. "Anyone can see that from the way they treat you, especially last weekend"

Remus' lips twitched into a little smile.

"Can I ask..." Mulciber trailed off a little, his entire body had tensed and his hands were clamped between his knees once again. "Could I ask you what... what your parents are?"

Remus blinked. "Human, and they're your parents too"

Mulciber let out a nervous little laugh. "I meant... you know..."

Remus swallowed. "Dad is a half-blood and mum is a... is a Muggle..."

Mulciber exhaled a sharp little breath, his body began to tremble and Remus couldn't tell if he were about to cry or scream in a fit of rage. "H-how am I going to tell my friends?" he whispered softly.

Sirius did what he had never done before, he reached out and placed a hand on Mulciber's shoulder in a comforting way. "You don't _have _to tell them anything but if you do you should be proud to tell people what you are. I know it sounds funny or less meaningful coming from a pure-blood but trust me on this one, you've got nothing to be ashamed about"

"Thank you" Mulciber nodded slowly looking into Sirius' face. "That actually means a lot to me. You have no problem with Remus being half-blood"

Sirius laughed. "Of course not and there's no real reason why I should have a problem with him being who he is, he's lovely and your parents are really great people I met them last weekend" he grinned.

Mulciber laughed a little.

"So I guess I should really be calling you by your first name now that we're brothers" Remus grinned playfully. "Nathaniel" he added.

Mulciber chuckled and glanced to Remus again. "Nathaniel or Nath are both fine, Remus" he grinned playfully then looked to Sirius. "I suppose you and I are also on a first name basis now, right?"

Sirius nodded. "I guess we are, Nathaniel"

"Sirius" the boy nodded back. It felt so strange to be addressing the Gryffindor's by their first names rather than Lupin and Black. It may take a little time getting used to it.

A few minutes later and they were leaving the hospital wing thanking Madam Pomfrey whom in all of the commotion had disappeared into the back room for a short while to give them some privacy.

When they were out in the corridor, Mulciber was breathing slowly staring into space.

"I'm getting hungry I think it's time we got some dinner, don't you?" Remus said looking between the two of them.

Mulciber swallowed and nodded slowly. "I suppose so, although my mind is so fuzzy right now I'm not so certain I have much of an appetite"

Remus laughed. "Come and sit with us if you like"

Mulciber looked to him warily. "My brother is crazy... absolutely batshit crazy..."

Remus and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Don't be silly, nobody can do anything to hurt you" Remus smiled warmly. "Besides, it's not like you'll be doing anything inappropriate or ditching your friends or anything like that, surely they can't have a go at you for it..."

"Believe me, they can" Mulciber swallowed.

"Go on, humour Remus and come sit with us just for tonight's dinner" Sirius grinned to him. "If your friends start then I'll hex their bollocks blue for you, how does that sound?"

"Highly inapprorpiate and unnecessary but I appreciate your settlement. So yes, I will eat dinner with you both" Mulciber smiled gently.

"Great!" Remus grinned.

...

The Great Hall was busy and bustling with students coming in and out. The end of the week was fast approaching and everybody was looking forward to having a great weekend. Remus and Sirius were no exception of course and neither was Mulciber.

As they headed in, Mulciber's head dropped a little. Nobody was looking at him strangely as of yet. He followed Remus and Sirius over towards the Gryffindor table swallowing nervously. He'd never sat here before and never expected that he ever would, what was it Sirius had said about being brave? He sure didn't feel it right now.

It didn't take more than around two minutes for his friends to look up and notice him. At first they didn't seem to realise he was actually with Remus and Sirius until he lowered himself down in his seat.

Avery was staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, his small nose wrinkled in confusion as he looked to the boy.

Mulciber looked back at him, his lips twitchig into a tiny smile.

Avery lifted his arms a little, elbows bent and palms flat by his shoulders shaking his head.

Mulciber swallowed, he could see Evan staring at him suspiciously, all of the younger boys glaring at him like he'd committed a atrocity and Snape sitting there shaking his head in disapproval. The only one that was not looking at him was Regulus Black whom was sitting there beside Evan with his head down looking at his plate.

"Maybe I should just go over and sit with them..." he said slowly.

"Don't, just ignore them if nothing else" said Sirius rather firmly. "You're stronger than this, I don't know why you're so afraid of them, you're one of them so there's no way they'd hurt you and you know it"

Mulciber glanced back nervously to Avery again. It was such a silly idea coming over here and sitting with these two even if he was excited about Remus turning out to be his brother.

"Be strong" Remus smiled warmly to him, locking his feet in with Sirius' under the table.

By now James, Lily, Peter and their company had noticed Mulciber and were glaring off down the table and whispering rapidly to one another.

Sirius glared at them in a warning.

Avery continued to make faces at Mulciber.

Mulciber swallowed and beckoned the boy over. Avery shot him a wary look but got up, Evan made to follow him but Mulciber end up his hand to halt him, shook his head and pointed to just Avery beckoning him over again.

Evan lowered himself down in his seat staring at him very suspiciously.

Avery got up and made his way slowly around the table and headed over to Mulciber looking at him very warily as though he may catch on fire at any moment. "What are you doing?" he asked, dropping his voice low as he looked down into his best friend's face.

Mulciber swallowed anxiously, his heart was hammering in his chest. "You remember what I told you about... about my family...?" he said in a very low voice.

Avery stared and nodded very slowly, his eyes fixated on his friend's face. "Yes..."

Mulciber's eyebrows furrowed, a strained, frightened look crossed his face that Avery had never really seen before. Mulciber was being vulnerable.

"H-he's my brother" Mulciber swallowed, his eyes flickered towards Remus sitting over the other side of the table. He hadn't sat next to him so as not to arouse suspicion and because he was now sitting with his back to his Slytherin friends not wanting them to see his face too much.

Avery's large, brown eyes widened and he stared down into his friend's face, his lips parting. Moments later and his attention turned to Remus studying his face closely for a few moments. A soft gasp escaped his lips as his eyes turned sharply back to his best friend. "How do you know?"

"We had a DNA test done today" said Mulciber. "Madam Pomfrey tested us at lunch and we got the results back about half an hour again" he said quietly. "We're full-blood brothers" his lips curled into a little smile.

Avery stared at him in shock for a moment before slowly sinking down onto the old wooden bench beside his friend. "So that's where you really went today..."

"Yes and I apologise for lying but you can understand why I did it, I wouldn't lie about anything else, I felt... scared..." Mulciber said in a very hushed voice so only Avery could hear.

The boy swallowed and nodded. "Okay, well, we can talk about this later when you're done here" he said getting to his feet again and gesturing beween them.

Without another word he turned and left heading back over to the Slytherin table.

Mulciber exhaled slowly watching him leave, he continued to watch as the boy sank down in his seat. Evan tried to talk to him, Wilkes was there whispering but Avery just shook his head firmly. He wasn't going to talk and for that Mulciber was very grateful.

As they ate dinner, Sirius and Remus chatted to him about their school work, exams and what they planned to do about next year seeing as it would be their final one here at Hogwarts. Mulciber did begin to relax somewhat despite the fact people were looking at him very suspiciously as though he were trying to do something awful.

"It was very nice having dinner with you two" Mulciber smiled when, stuffed, they left the Great Hall as a trio. "We should all most definitely spend some time together very soon"

"How about this weekend?" Sirius offered looking to Remus. "We could go up to the Room of Requirement and hang out, nobody could possibly find us in there"

Mulciber's eyes widened. "You know where the Room of Requirement is?! I thought it was just a myth..."

Sirius chuckled. "Of course we do and we're willing to show you if you're up for it"

"Yes, yes I'd like to go" Mulciber smiled, a flicker of eagerness sparkled in his eyes. "I'll see you just after lunch?"

"Wouldn't miss it" Remus grinned. They paused there for a moment unsure of how to part ways for now but Remus stepped forward and embraced Mulciber warmly. "I'm really glad that you're my brother, I know we have had our share of problems in past years but I'm still happy that you're going to be in my life from now on"

Mulciber smiled warmly and hugged Remus back, a better hug than he had used before. His heart was hammering in his chest and he thanked Merlin that they were just under the shaded alcove so people wouldn't find out this way or suspect them of some inappropriate kind of threesome. "I'm really glad, too" he whispered softly.

When they drew apart the boys smiled to one another, Mulciber and Sirius awkwardly shook hands. It wasn't perfect but it was definitely a start.

Moments later and Sirius and Remus found themselves heading on up to the Gryffindor tower, they wouldn't go to the library tonight, they shouldn't trouble themselves with homework on a day like this.

...

When they arrived back in the dormitory, Remus had a quick bath and went to lie on his bed and wait for Sirius to finish up with his. When the boy finally came out smiling (he wasn't actually in there all that long) he made his way over to the bed and lowered himself down slowly beside Remus, gazing into those beautiful sky blue eyes.

"My brother" Remus sighed softly relaxing back into the fluffed pillows. "I can't believe that I can actually sat those words now"

Sirius chuckled softly. "I'm happy that you seem very pleased with the outcomings of it all" he smiled warmly.

"So far this year I've gained a baby, a boyfriend and a brother" Remus chuckled nestling into Sirius' arms. We're here until June so there's a lot that could happen between now and then"

"But of course" Sirius grinned. "You'll more than likely have given birth by then"

Remus looked a little nervous but laughed anyway. "I know don't remind me. It's scary thinking of what's going to happen to me over the next couple of months, especially being a guy it makes it even worse but at the same time I am happy with everything that's gone on"

"I'm so pleased for you, Moony" Sirius smiled warmly, his eyes filled with genuine happiness.

Remus sat up a little and pulled Sirius down for a kiss. The kiss was slow and tender and Sirius parted his lips slipping his tongue into Remus' mouth.

Remus gasped softly allowing Sirius' tongue to roll softly with his own, it felt so good. Slowly, very slowly, Sirius gently lay him back down against the pillows, he didn't climb on top of him but he did lean over him to kiss him softly on the lips again keeping the tongues swirling together.

And softly, very softly, Remus moaned.

Sirius' lips twitched into a smile as he continued to kiss the boy, his eyes cracked open to meet Remus', the boy's face was up in flames and he quickly parted their lips covering his face and rolling onto his side with the embarrassment.

"Moony..." Sirius chuckled. "Don't be so shy"

Remus let out a little groan is dismay. "Why do I have to be so hormonal?"

Sirius started laughing again.

"It's not funny, Sirius..."

"Of course it is, you're adorable" Sirius grinned. He reached around and gently rolled Remus onto his back again, the boy covered his face with his hands but Sirius lifted them away. "Look at me, Moons" he cooed softly.

Remus reluctantly opened his eyes to stare into Sirius', they were beautiful as always.

"Do you realise how hot you are when you get a little turned on?" Sirius breathed, a grin slowly spreading across his face lighting up his beautiful silver eyes. "And don't lie, Moony, I know you're a little frisky right now..."

Remus felt his blush deepen, he nodded shyly and exhaled a small breath through his kiss-swollen lips. "I am a guy and sometimes these things cannot be helped, it's not my fault you're really hot..." he mumbled shyly.

Sirius was grinning again. "Thank you, Remus"

Before Remus could say anything, Sirius slid a hand slowly up his side, he didn't look very aroused and Remus knew he wasn't doing it to feel him up, he was just touching him. Remus swallowed and sighed happily gazing into Sirius' face until-

Remus gasped, his back arching slightly as Sirius' fingers brushed over that sensitive little mound beneath the fabric of his pyjama top. Sirius hadn't done it intentionally and his eyes widened with surprise.

"Moony?" he looked worried.

Remus exhaled slowly and relaxed. "I'm fine, Sirius" he breathed. "It's just..." his eyes wandered down to his chest. "Since I got pregnant my nipples have been..." he trailed off a little, blushing.

Sirius stared at him for a moment and carefully stroked his fingers back over Remus' nipple earning a soft gasp from the boy, his lips parting and eyes widening.

Sirius' lips curled back into another bright grin. "Can I see?"

Remus looked to him nervously. "You want to see them?"

Sirius smiled again and nodded quickly.

"They're kind of... big..."

Sirius' grin spread once again. "Prove it, let me take a little look at them"

Remus blushed a little further and slowly unbuttoned his pyjama top. Brushing it aside he sank his teeth into his bottom lip as Sirius' eyes fell on his chest.

A moan escaped Sirius' lips, a moan so lovely it made Remus shudder with need as the boy looked into his eyes and reached down to gently touch his swollen, pink nipples. "They're so, so beautiful, Moony" he whispered.

Remus flushed even further. "They're very swollen and sensitive"

"It's normal, Moony" Sirius smiled a little watching Remus' lips part and his eyes widened as those wonderful sensations washed over him again. "They will do, you're pregnant and it's your hormones"

Remus smiled nervously and moaned very softly when Sirius touched them again. Slowly, the boy leaned down and brushed his lips over each of them in turn, right and left before he pulled back and closed Remus' pyjama top up again with a smile on his handsome face.

"You look gorgeous, you know that?"

Remus swallowed and nodded. "Sirius..."

"Mm?"

"Do you ever...?"

Sirius frowned slightly unsure of what Remus meant at first. Then he realised. "Oh, you mean do I masturbate?"

Remus nodded slowly. "Yeah"

Sirius laughed. "I'm a guy, Moony, of course I do. What about you?"

Remus nodded shyly.

"You're so shy when it comes to sexual things" Sirius grinned.

"You know how I feel about sex" Remus blushed a little. "I would like to have sex with you one day but right now I-I'm not ready for it, is that okay?" he searched Sirius' face worriedly.

"Of course it's okay, Remus" Sirius said gently cupping the boy's face in his hands. "You know how much I care for you, how much I love you and I would never ask you to do something you're not ready for. In all honesty I myself and not quite ready for sex, it's a pretty big step for anyone to take for the first time and a first time should always be special" he smiled warmly.

"I agree" Remus breathed. "I love you so much" he whispered. "And I trust you"

"And I trust you, too, Moony" Sirius smiled back. "I would never cheat on you and I know you would never do the same to me"

"I would never do something like that, I promise" Remus breathed wrapping his arms around Sirius' neck and pulling him down into a hug.

"And I promise you, too" Sirius whispered back.

They drew apart smiling lovingly to one another. "Time for sleep?" it was Sirius whom spoke again.

Remus nodded quickly and pecked his boyfriend on the lips. "I love you"

"I love you too, Remus"

...

That night when Mulciber returned to his dormitory. His friends had shot him weird looks but he couldn't find the strength to talk to them today. He'd just found his blood brother for the first time, he had found a living member of his biological family and it was a proven fact.

Of course he had suspected Remus for quite some time, ever since he found out that his parents were by the name Lupin and he'd met Remus. There had been days where he'd gone into the bathroom just to look at himself in the mirror, wash his hair out and let it hang in the same way Remus' did with such utter ease.

Avery had smiled to him gently and given him his space for the evening making up some excuse to everyone else. Of course they would be suspicious but that mattered not right now, he had to take his time with getting used to everything, mulling it over and trying to calm himself over the prospect of meeting his blood family next week.

That familiar crawling in his stomach came back and he sighed softly as he curled up in bed behind his closed emerald curtains. He doubted any of his friends could understand the extreme scale of emotions he felt at this moment. Growing up he'd always been told that big boys don't cry, but as the years went on he knew that, no big boys do not cry but real men do.

...

When Friday mornng arrived and after a bout of nausea (but no vomiting) Remus was more than happy to head off down to get a bite to eat before he and Sirius went to Potions.

Of course, being Friday, the school was buzzing with excitement, that Friday feeling was in the air and people were much happier than normal (and much lazier, too)

When they arrived outside the Potions classroom, Remus looked up and grinned as Nathaniel stood chatting casually with Avery, Rosier and Snape. He couldn't say much for Severus or Evan being the easiest of people to get along with, well, actually he couldn't say much for Avery either but he would make the effort to be peaceful.

Nathaniel looked up and smiled gently to him, Remus, being the kind person that he was, took it upon himself to head over there before Sirius could catch him and stop him. He bounded up to his brother with a grin on his face.

"Hey, how are you this morning?" he asked brightly.

Rosier and Snape looked positively horrified that Remus dared talk to one of their gang leaders as though they were... _friends..._

Nathaniel swallowed but nodded. "I'm fine thank you, how are you?"

"Feeling better than I have been some mornings" Remus grinned knowing his brother would understand what he meant by that and judging by the look on his face, he most certainly did.

"I'm glad to hear it"

Remus could see Avery's eyes studying his face again, he was a smart young man, Remus knew that and Remus was also rather intelligent and could tell that Avery was trying to pick out similarities in their faces.

"Well, see you later on" he smiled before turning and hurrying back over to Sirius whom looked rather worried and immediately embraced him in his arms.

"Be careful, Moony" he whispered softly in his ear. "Your brother might not hurt you but I think the other ones would"

Remus swallowed. "I don't know if he'd let them hurt me..."

"Seeing as you're pregnant and he's probably feeling rather attached to you at the moment probably not but at the same time he cannot control them even if he does lead their little gang with Avery at his side" Sirius said back. "You know I get worried for you, please let me come over with you next time you want to pay him a visit when his friends are around, okay?"

Remus smiled and nodded quickly. "Okay"

...

Friday's lessons passed pleasantly, Remus felt relaxed, comfortable and happy now. His growing family was something he could be proud of even if he did have the ongoing issue with the full moon which would make its appearance on Sunday evening, but right now he had other things to occupy his mind with.

"Why does Lupin keep coming over to you?" Wilkes almost demanded as the Slytherin boys sat in their little group around the fireplace that same evening.

"He doesn't _keep _coming over to me" Mulciber said, coolly.

"What does he want?" it was Barty from the year below Regulus (a fourth year now), he was a pale, somewhat sickly-looking boy with his sandy blonde hair and sharp eyes. He looked as though his hair had been dyed the wrong colour for his complexion but unfortunately for him it was natural.

Mulciber shrugged awkwardly. "Just to be nice, I guess"

"Be nice" Snape tutted. "I'll bet he wants you in a threesome with _Black_" he practicaly spat the word as though it were a mouthful of filth.

Wilkes laughed. "I second that"

"I'll bet that's something you would like to see, isn't it, Wilkes?" Mulciber said quirking an eyebrow at the boy. "Why would you even suggest such a thing if you were not into it?"

Snape glared. "You're hiding something"

Mulciber swallowed nervously. "I have nothing to say to you, Snape"

"I have plenty to say to you, I think you're being a traitor to your brothers" Snape replied quickly, his eyes narrowing to slits. "I think you're doing us wrong and I find it highly suspicious that you're all of a sudden pally pally with Lupin and Black that way, you know those are bad people, they are the wrong sort-"

At the word _brother _Mulciber flinched noticeably.

"How dare you speak to a pure-blood that way!" Rosier gasped in shock. "How dare you speak to someone in such a manner, disgrace!"

Mulciber swallowed. "I'm going to bed..."

"Don't leave on his account, we can remove him sooner than you" Avery said quietly catching his friend by the arm as he went to stand up.

"And now you're all close with him, too" Snape continued. "What treachery has befallen our little gang then, eh?"

Regulus looked down at his shoes not saying a word the entire time. Sometimes he wished his friends could be less judgmental. The way they often spoke of the Black name usually related to Sirius which always resulted in negativity. They were, in theory, disgracing HIS name by saying such things but he hadn't the courage to stand up to them for they would treat him in much the same way as a blood traitor.

Mulciber swallowed and glared at Snape. "I don't know why you are so interested in my personal life all of a sudden, Severus"

Snape shot him a look. "I don't know why you've suddenly become so suspicious, _Mulciber"_

Mulciber felt anger welling in his chest, he stepped closer to the boy. "What I do with my private time is absolutely none of your business"

"_Traitor"_ Snape hissed coldly.

"I'm actually with Snape on this one" said Wilkes rather loudly sitting himself up straighter in his chair, the light brown colour of his hair picking up the warmth from the fire sending it an odd coppery colour.

"There's a shock" Avery said rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Does this have something to do with Quidditch?" Wilkes tried looking directly at Mulciber. "Are you passing them our defences? Our strategy?"

Mulciber glared. "I have no interest in what you do with your Quidditch matches" he said flatly. "I am not talking to them about Quidditch!"

"Then what is it you're talking to them about? How to get bummed in the public toilets?" Rabastan laughed nastily and the others all followed, the cackles and snarls of laughs echoing around the dungeon room.

Mulciber swallowed, his heart beating a tattoo in his chest. His hands balled into fists. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Oooh, look at the big boy using curse words because he's angry" Snape smirked showing his uneven teeth. "Am I going to make you cry?" he pouted nastily.

Mulciber shot him a dangerous look. "I'm warning you, Snape..."

"Or what?" Snape laughed. "You and I both know I am just as skilled as you at duelling, don't test my patience, kid"

"Sounds like the traitor is getting angry" said Barty. "Next week he'll be prancing in here a fairy waving his wand around casting rainbows and sparkles all over the place in a dress!"

The other's apart from Regulus and Avery roared with laughter. Regulus just sat with his head down and Avery's mouth twisted in anger.

"It is none of your business what he should choose to do with his time" Avery said loudly over their laughter. "Now be quiet and stop embarrassing yourselves"

"So come on then, Mulciber, what is it you're hiding then?" Wilkes said nastily.

"Hiding up his backside, more like!" Snape laughed.

Mulciber felt the anger and hurt welling in his chest like a pot boiling to the brim-

"I'll bet by Monday he'll be asking to transfer into Gryffindor and will start wearing their sickly uniform and everything!" Rabastan went on. "I'll bet he'll sign himself up for the gay club, too!"

"He's a blood traitor just like Black is" Snape said coldly. "I wonder what his parents would say if they knew he was disgracing his pure-blood name..."

Mulciber's pressure built and burst. "I'VE BEEN HANGING AROUND WITH REMUS BECAUSE I WAS ADOPTED AND HE'S MY FUCKING BIOLOGICAL BROTHER!" he screamed, tears welling in his eyes.

There was a moment's shocked silence before all of his friends began to roar with laughter and disgust.

"HALF-BLOOD!" Barty cried out pointing directly at him, a look of pure sickening horror washing over his face.

"Liar" Snape spat. "He lied to us telling us he was pure!"

"Disgusting!" Rabastan spat onto the floor by Mulciber's feet.

"I can't believe a pure-blood family would adopt a half-blood brat, no wonder he was dumped by his parents, they were probably so ashamed of breeding their filthy blood they knew it was best to just get rid of it" Wilkes said coldly.

And with that, Mulciber turned on his heels and ran up to the dormitory.

He broke down on the floor by his bed sobbing his heart out gasping for air. He couldn't believe this had just happened, this was not what he wanted to happen today, this was not what he had asked for or wanted to ever happen.

Moments later and the dormitory door opened and slammed shut with a bang. Mulciber tensed still sobbing trying to bury himself into the floor with shame and terror of what they were going to do to humiliate and hurt him now.

Torture?

A second later and a pair of hands rested gently but firmly on his shoulders. "Hey, come on, stop crying" Avery said softly.

Mulciber just continued to sob.

"I'm not going to hurt you..." he said again.

Mulciber didn't do anything he just rocked back and forth a little still crying on his knees. Avery was silent for a moment and stood up pulling Nathaniel with him wrapping his arms round him.

"I may not fully understand what it's like to go through this but I do understand how you're feeling, I do understand you really need a friend right now and someone to comfort you"

Mulciber gasped, the scent of his best friend filling his senses. The faint smell of expensive aftershave and young male. He wrapped his arms lovingly around his best friend's neck burying his face in there. They were virtually the same height only Avery was a fraction taller. "Thank you" Nathaniel whispered.

They stood there hugging for quite some time, Avery just supporting his friend as his sobs turned to sniffles and his crying calmed down.

"I've warned the others not to come up here for a while, they don't defy me" Avery said gently pulling back a little to look into Nathaniel's face. "What they did to you was completely unacceptable"

"But it's what I have to get used to from now on" the boy whimpered. "People are going to judge me, they're going to treat me badly and they're going to bring up the fact I was such an arse to people before when they thought I was pure!"

"Only the bad ones will judge you on a few small mistakes you made in the past" Avery said quietly.

"Are you judging me? Now that I'm less than you are?" Nathaniel looked into Avery's face, his own eyes brimming with tears.

Avery swallowed and simply shook his head. "From the moment you told me you were adopted I knew there was a very good chance that you would be a half-blood, it's just more likely. It's rare that a pure-blood would ever give their child away unless in extreme circumstances so I have had plenty of time to think it over and get used to the idea, the others have had barely an hour"

"That's not going to stop them, I fear what they will do to me"

"I won't let them harm you" Avery said calmly. "You're my best friend, we've known each other since we were little kids, you're the one person I know I can turn to when I'm in need and I would never want to lose that"

Mulciber found himself smiling warmly. "You're more than that to me" Mulciber sniffled.

Avery smiled warmly, he obviously didn't understand what Mulciber had meant and maybe that was best for tonight.

"Let's get you cleaned up" he said quietly and pushed his friend into the bathroom.

Nathaniel went inside looking at his reflection in the mirror, he looked a mess with his pink puffy eyes, pale skin and swollen red lips. Running the water he washed his hands and splashed his face, brushed his teeth and headed back into the dormitory. He felt in ruined, absolutely in ruins.

He was slightly surprised to find Avery on his bed in his pyjamas looking absolutely adorable. He blushed slightly but thankfully the fact he'd been crying actually hid it.

Avery spelled his hands clean and cast Aguamenti on two spare goblets on Nathaniel's bedside. "I got you some water, come here" he said holding out an arm.

Nathaniel swallowed and smiled making his way over. He actually didn't hesitate to slid under his friend's arm and settled in resting his face against Avery's chest.

They sat there for some time and Avery pulled the bed curtains closed around them so it was dark. Nathaniel didn't even flinch he just closed his eyes with a tiny sigh. The lights were glowing slightly through the curtains making it feel extremely cosy, it was so warm and Avery was so soft to cuddle into. It felt so right.

Nathaniel felt himself smile slightly as he began to drift off. He didn't need to worry about anything right now, he just couldn't, he didn't have the strength. "I love you" he whispered softly but before he could hear a response, Nathaniel drifted off to sleep...

...


End file.
